With former President Donald Trump set to reprise his role as the commander in chief of the world's most powerful military and largest economy as he claims victory in the U.S. presidential election, leaders around the world started reacting Wednesday to the reality of a second term in the White House for the businessman-turned-politician.
From enthusiasm voiced by Israel's leader as he wages an expanding, multi-front war to anxiety from some of America's closest, generations-old European allies, the reaction to Trump's election performance started rolling in long before the final votes were counted across the U.S.
Below is a look at how some foreign leaders and governments around the world have taken the news of the American electorate's apparent rebuke of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party at the polls.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his congratulations to Trump on Wednesday, calling his election performance "history's greatest comeback!"
"Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America," Netanyahu said. "This is a huge victory!"
Later Wednesday Netanyahu's spokesperson said the Israeli prime minister had been among the first foreign leaders to call Trump and offer his congratulations personally.
"The conversation was warm and cordial," Netanyahu's office said, adding that the two men had "agreed to work together for Israel's security" and also discussed "the Iranian threat."
Despite Trump's criticism of the Israeli leader's handling of the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu was widely believed to favor the former U.S. leader in the U.S. election. Tension between Washington and Tel Aviv has risen sharply over the last year, with President Biden and others criticising Israel's tactics in its multi-front war with Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.
The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack that saw the militants kill some 1,200 people and kidnap about 250 others, has now killed more than 43,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to its Hamas-run health ministry. Israel has also significantly ramped-up its assault on Hezbollah, Hamas' fellow-Iranian backed allies in Lebanon. The Israeli offensive there has killed more than 3,000 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The Biden administration has continued pushing for cease-fires on both fronts, to no avail, and demanding that Israel do more to mitigate the devastating impact of the wars on civilians.
Ukraine's war-time President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Trump Wednesday for what he called an "impressive election victory," and said he looked forward to "an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump's decisive leadership."
"I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in a social media post, adding that his country was interested "in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations."
"I appreciate President Trump's commitment to the 'peace through strength' approach in global affairs," said the Ukrainian leader. "This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together."
Zelenskyy offered no comment on Trump's repeated vows to "quickly" end the nearly three-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022. His government and his commanders on the battlefield have voiced growing concern that Trump could dramatically reduce or even halt the huge American support for Ukraine's military effort to repel Russia's invasion.
Zelenskyy has warned that if the resolve of Ukraine's Western backers crumbles and Russia is allowed to seize Ukrainian territory, the war his country is fighting could spread, with direct implications for Americans.
One of the first foreign leaders to offer congratulations to Trump on Wednesday was one of the very few who openly backed him long before the final votes were cast in the U.S. Hungary's far-right leader Viktor Orbán, who's been accused during his decades-long leadership of the eastern European nation of eroding its democratic institutions by giving himself more power and limiting that of the country's courts and civil society institutions, called Trump's apparent success "a much needed victory for the World!"
In a message posted on social media, Orbán said Trump had pulled off "the biggest comeback in US political history," and he congratulated him on his "enormous win."
Orban has made himself an outsider among European Union leaders by endorsing anti-immigrant policies and maintaining close ties with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia's ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine — all while touting his close ties to Trump.
In a speech over the summer, Orbán suggested he had even helped to craft Trump's future statecraft, claiming to have "entered the policy-writing system of President Donald Trump's team," with "deep involvement there."
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on Thursday for his presidential win, roughly 36 hours after the results were announced.
Following a speech at an international forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin praised the president-elect for his bravery during the July assassination attempt. "His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man," the Associated Press reported Putin said. He also said Trump's desire to restore relations with Russia and to help end the Ukrainian crisis, "in my opinion, deserves attention at least."
Putin never spoke publicly in favor of either candidate during the U.S. election campaign process. Trump has previously lauded Putin's leadership.
Leonid Slutsky, who heads the Committee on International Affairs in Russia's State Duma, or parliament, was quoted Wednesday by the country's state-run RIA Novosti news agency as saying a Trump victory offered "a chance for a more constructive approach to the Ukrainian conflict."
"Can we expect changes in approaches to the role of the U.S. in the Ukrainian conflict, which has been fueled by the Democratic administration since 2014? Judging by the election rhetoric (if it can still be believed), the Republican team is not going to send more and more American taxpayers' money into the furnace of a proxy war against Russia," Slutsky was quoted as saying. "Perhaps there is a chance for a more constructive approach here."
Slutsky did not comment on Trump's repeated vows to end the war in Ukraine quickly if reelected — something European and Ukrainian leaders fear he could do by halting America's vast military support for Kyiv and forcing Ukraine to accept Russia's takeover of significant Ukrainian territory.
Slutsky did predict, however, that if the next American administration does cut off that support, the U.S.-backed Ukrainian government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will fall "in a matter of months, if not days."
In remarks later to journalists in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unaware of any plans for Putin to congratulate Trump directly, saying the former U.S. leader had made "quite harsh statements" about Russia during the campaign and calling the U.S. an "unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state."
"We will continue to view and handle China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and cooperation for win-win," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday. "We respect the choice of the American people and congratulate Mr. Trump on his election as president."
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te offered his "sincere congratulations" to Trump on Wednesday, saying he was "confident that the longstanding #Taiwan-#US partnership, built on shared values & interests, will continue to serve as a cornerstone for regional stability & lead to greater prosperity for us all."
The United States is bound by domestic law to back Taiwan, an island off China's eastern coast that's claimed by Beijing as Chinese territory but which has had its own democratic government for decades, if it faces military aggression.
China's President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring Taiwan back under the rule of his Communist Party, by force if necessary, creating one of the most risky global military standoffs on the planet. Chinese and Taiwanese military vessels and aircraft have regularly entered each others' territory in recent months, increasing the tension as U.S. vessels continue "freedom of navigation" operations in the region.
