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World leaders raced to congratulate Donald Trump on Wednesday as he triumphed in a stunning US election victory over Kamala Harris.

European leaders in particular were quick to extend their best wishes and offers of cooperation, in contrast to a much cooler reaction when Trump won for the first time in 2016.

There were some exceptions, such as Russia, where the foreign ministry frostily commented on the outcome but let it be known that no congratulations would be forthcoming from president Vladimir Putin.

 Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Trump’s win as ‘history’s greatest comeback’ as well as a ‘new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.’

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Donald Trump on his ‘impressive victory’ and said he hoped his presidency would bring a ‘just peace in Ukraine closer.’

‘I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs,’ Zelensky said on social media.

‘We are under no illusions about the American president-elect,’ Moscow’s foreign ministry said, adding that it will ‘work with’ a new US administration and prioritise achieving its ‘set goals’ in Ukraine. It said its ‘conditions’ on ending the conflict ‘are unchanged and are well known in Washington’.  

Without directly mentioning Trump, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing that China hopes for ‘peaceful coexistence’ with the United States.

‘We will continue to approach and handle China-US relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,’ she said.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Trump’s return to power would help keep the alliance ‘strong’.

‘His leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong. I look forward to working with him again to advance peace through strength through NATO,’ Rutte said in a statement.

‘I warmly congratulate Donald J. Trump,’ European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. ‘We are bound by a true partnership between our people, uniting 800 million citizens. Let’s work together on a strong transatlantic agenda that keeps delivering for them.’

The UN is ‘ready to work constructively with the incoming administration to address the dramatic challenges our world is facing,’ secretary-general Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

Prime minister Keir Starmer congratulated the 78-year old on his ‘historic election victory’.

French president Emmanuel Macron congratulated ‘President Donald Trump’, saying he was ready to work together ‘with respect and ambition’ like ‘we managed to do for four years’.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz told Trump: ‘we’re better off together.’

‘Both sides benefit from the transatlantic partnership,’ Scholz said in a statement to media. ‘The EU and the USA are two similarly large economic areas, linked by the closest economic relations in the world.’

Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said Trump’s election victory was ‘no cause for concern’, despite his threats of tariffs and mass migrant deportations.

Brazil leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva congratulated Trump and wished him ‘luck and success’.

‘The world needs dialogue and joint work for more peace, development and prosperity,’ he said.  

Japan prime minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters he hopes ‘to work closely with Trump to take the Japan-US alliance and Japan-US relationship to new heights.’ 

South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country will take over the G20 presidency next year — ahead of the US in 2026 — told Trump in a message that he looked forward to ‘continuing the close and mutually beneficial partnership between our two nations across all domains of our cooperation.’

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and his son, de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sent cables to Trump with the king hailing ‘close relations between the two friendly countries and peoples, which everyone seeks to strengthen and develop in all fields’, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose Gulf monarchy is a key mediator in the Gaza conflict and hosts a largest US military base in the Middle East, said he looked forward to ‘working together again in promoting security and stability both in the region and globally’.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated ‘my friend Donald Trump’.

‘I hope Turkey-US relations will strengthen, that regional and global crises and wars, especially the Palestinian issue and the Russia-Ukraine war, will come to an end,’ Erdogan said in a statement.

Nigeria’s president Bola Tinubu said Trump’s victory reflected the trust and confidence Americans had placed in his leadership.

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he hoped Trump’s return to the White House could help bring peace to the Middle East.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi hailed a ‘historic election victory’ offering his ‘heartiest congratulations’ to Trump, describing him as ‘my friend.’

‘As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration,’ he said in a statement.

South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol congratulated Trump adding that ‘under your strong leadership, the future of the ROK-US alliance and America will shine brighter. Look forward to working closely with you.’ 

Taiwan president Lai Ching-te expressed confidence US-Taiwan relations would continue to ‘serve as a cornerstone for regional stability’.

‘Sincere congratulations to president-elect Trump on your victory,’ Lai posted on X.

Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni also congratulated Trump, playing up the ties between their countries.

‘Italy and the United States are ‘sister’ nations, linked by an unshakeable alliance,’ she said. 

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s closest ally in Europe, called the result ‘perhaps the greatest comeback in Western political history.’

‘They threatened him with jail, have taken away his assets, tried to murder him, the entire media world in the US turned against him, and yet he won,’ he wrote on Facebook.