Donald Trump elected President of the USA: world leaders react to the news

Political leaders across the globe are reacting to the news that Donald Trump is the next President elect of America, after recording a historic victory over Hillary Clinton.

In Germany, government officials described the result as ‘a big shock’, but Russia welcomed Trump’s victory as a triumph by ‘the better candidate of the two.

Here’s what the world had to say.

Britain

In a short statement, Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated Mr Trump on his victory, and said that the UK will remain ‘close partners’ with the US.

‘I would like to congratulate Donald Trump on being elected the next president of the United States, following a hard-fought campaign’, 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.

‘I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.’

Posting on Twitter, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that the result was ‘a rejection of a failed economic consensus and a governing elite that has been seen not to have listened.’

China

Chinese state media casted the US election as the very embodiment of American democracy in crisis.

State run Xinhua News Agency claimed that the campaign had highlighted that ‘the majority of Americans are rebelling against the US’s political class and financial elites”.

But some participants at a US Embassy event in Beijing welcomed the news – with blogger Wang Yiming claiming that the Republican Party had been more willing to demonstrated global leadership.

Russia

Russian leaders were quick to hail the victory, after leader Vladimir Putin previously revealed his admiration for Trump.

In a brief statement, the Kremlin said Mr Putin expressed ‘his hope to work together for removing Russian-American relations from their crisis state’.

Mr Putin also spoke of his confidence in ‘building a constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington that is based on principles of equality, mutual respect and a real accounting of each other’s positions, in the interests of our peoples and the world community”.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic party, said: ‘We of course regard with satisfaction that the better candidate of the two presented to the American voters was victorious.’

He also spoke of his hope that US ambassador John Teftt would depart Moscow, because ‘he hates Russia’.

Mexico

Mexican analyst Alejandro Hope described Trump’s election as ‘DEFCON 2’, the second highest level on a scale used by the United States Armed Forced to gauge the severity of a national crisis.

‘Probably something as close to a national emergency as Mexico has faced in many decades’, Hope said.

‘It depends if he means what he says and if he can do what he claims he wants to do. A massive deportation campaign could really put some stress on Mexican border communities. A renegotiation of Nafta (North American Free Trade Agreement) could seriously hobble the Mexican economy. It could create a lot of uncertainty. Financial markets could suffer’.

India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a long time fan of Trump, congratulated him on Twitter. He wrote: ‘We appreciate the friendship you have articulated toward India during your campaign.

‘We look forward to working with you closely to take India-US bilateral ties to a new height.’

France

Far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is hoping to win France’s upcoming Presidential elections on a strong anti-immigration sentiment, hailed Trump’s victory.

She wrote on Twitter: ‘American people, free!’

But French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault expressed concern, and said that he did not want ‘a world where egoism triumphs’.

Germany

German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen described Trump’s victory as ‘a big shock’ and ‘a vote against Washington, against the establishment’.

Cuba

Communist Party member and noted political scientist Esteban Morales told the Telesur network that Cubans should ‘be worried because I think this represents a new chapter’.

But while Trump has promised to reverse Barack Obama’s opening with Cuba unless President Raul Castro agrees to more political freedom, it’s thought that his victory could please hard-liners in the Cuban leadership who became worried that the country was moving too close to the United States too quickly.