A thunderstruck world took in Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S presidential election, with ordinary people and political titans voicing jubilation, dismay or bafflement on Wednesday as allies and adversaries struggled to recalibrate their vision of a vastly altered American landscape.
On Ukraine’s frosty battlefields, in bustling urban cafes in Europe and Asia, on Middle Eastern street corners, there were gasps and widened eyes as the news flashed on televisions and smartphone screens – but in some quarters, a certain sense of detachment over this faraway political earthquake.
World leaders swiftly weighed in, ranging from enthusiastic congratulations to more somber and circumspect assurances of continuity in the relationship with Trump, whose mercurial first presidency upended many longstanding diplomatic norms.
“History’s greatest comeback!” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on the platform X. French President Emmanuel Macron, in a message more typical of Washington’s closest Western allies, declared himself “ready to work together as we did.”
Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime Trump ally, called his election “a beautiful victory.”
While most Americans awoke to the news of Trump’s victory or followed the tallies into the bleary-eyed early-morning hours, people in much of the world were in daytime workaday mode when the race was called.
“In the bigger picture, the war isn’t going anywhere,” said Serhiy, a Ukrainian marine sergeant serving on the southern frontlines. In keeping with Ukrainian military protocol, only his first name was shared.
In a Seoul cafe with sweeping river views, South Korean media production company owner Jeon Ji, 35, said she had never seen such a polarized political climate.
“I am beginning to wonder if the U.S. might actually break out in civil war,” she said.
In Europe, where several dozen heads of state were set to gather Thursday at a summit in Budapest, Hungary, Trump’s victory was seen as holding major consequences for security, the economy and climate change.
The former and incoming president’s promise to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” coupled with his friendly posture toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, cast a cloud over what has been an overarching common goal for nearly three years, assisting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Nonetheless, Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, struck an optimistic note, saying Trump’s leadership would again “be key to keeping our Alliance strong.” In the same vein, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said she looked forward to working again with Trump on “a strong transatlantic agenda.”
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader who shares Trump’s aggressive posture against illegal immigration, vowed to work with Trump to strengthen their nations’ “strategic bond.”
But Europe’s left was appalled. Raphaël Glucksmann, a leading French socialist in the European Parliament, said Trump’s return to the White House will threaten Europe’s alliance with the United States.
“We will now find ourselves alone in Europe,” he said. “Alone in the face of war on our continent, alone in the face of Putin, alone in the face of the wave of far-right authoritarians sweeping through our nations and the world, alone in the face of the climate catastrophe. Alone.”
