As the world woke up to the news that Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States of America, reactions from political leaders began to trickle in.

In his victory speech, Trump reached out to world leaders.

"I want to tell the world, while we will always put America's interests first, we will deal fairly with other countries and all people," he said. "We will get along well with all nations willing to get along with us."

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Many of the responses are moderate in tone, marking a formal acknowledgement of the new "leader of the free world," who will have to forge strong diplomatic relationships across international borders. 

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French Front National Party, was among the first to celebrate the result: "Congratulations to the new President of the United States, and to the free American people."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to Trump congratulating him on the result. In a statement from the Kremlin, the President “has expressed confidence that the dialogue between Moscow and Washington, in keeping with each other’s views, meets the interests of both Russia and the US.” 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated the President-Elect, stating: 

“Canada has no closer friend, partner, and ally than the United States. We look forward to working very closely with President-elect Trump, his administration, and with the United States Congress in the years ahead, including on issues such as trade, investment, and international peace and security."

This statement follows reports that Canada's main immigration website crashed after Trump took a lead in the polls, pushing some voters to frantically seek a new life across the northern border. 

UK Prime Minister Theresa May “looks forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump.” In a statement she said: 

“Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise. We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence.”

Nigel Farage, UKIP's interim leader, repeated Trump's claim that a Trump victory would be "bigger than Brexit"  and declared he would "hand over the mantle" to the President-elect. 

Leader of the UK's Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn shared a message of solidarity with the American population. 


India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared his desire to co-operate with the USA.

Geert Wilders, MP and leader of Dutch Far-Right party Party for Freedom, has celebrated the victory.  


In a TV interview, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz congratulated Donald Trump but said relations between the US and the EU would not be easy. 


The BBC reports that the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has congratulated Trump and renewed Turkey's call for the extradition of preacher Fetullah Gulen who has been living in the USA since 1999. 



After congratulating the President-Elect, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong described the deep division that the election has exposed across the country. 

EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker have offered their congratulations and invited Donald Trump to an EU summit at “his earliest convenience.” 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a statement stressing the importance of maintaining good relations between the US and Germany, based on shared values. 

"Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom, and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. "I offer the President of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values." 

This article was first published at 07 am EST. Global Citizen will continue to provide updates throughout the day. 

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