With former President Donald Trump poised to resume his role as commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military and largest economy — and he’s wasting no time in claiming victory on Tuesday the US presidential election — World leaders began reacting Wednesday to the prospect of a second term in the White House for the businessman-turned-politician.

From the excitement expressed by Israel’s leader as he fights an expanding, multi-front war to the anxiety of some of America’s closest, generations-old European allies, reaction to Trump’s election performance has begun to emerge with long before the final votes were counted in some of them. key US battleground states

Below is a look at how some foreign leaders and others around the world received news of the American electorate’s apparent rebuke of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party at the polls.

Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on Wednesday, calling his election performance “the greatest comeback in history!”

“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a strong re-commitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” Netanyahu said. “This is a huge win!”

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 be favoring the former US leader in the US election as tension between Washington and Tel Aviv rose sharply. in the last year because of Israel’s tactics in it multi-front war with Iran-backed groups in the Middle East.

The Gaza war, sparked by a Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 others, has now killed more than 43,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to its Hamas-led health ministry . . Israel has also significantly stepped up its attack on Hezbollah, allies in Lebanon supported by Hamas’s Iranian counterparts. The Israeli offensive there killed more than 3,000 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Biden administration continued to push for a cease-fire on both fronts, to no avail, and called on Israel to do more to mitigate the wars’ devastating impact on civilians.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely symbolic, also congratulated Trump on his “historic return to the White House.”

“You are a true and dear friend of Israel and a champion of peace and cooperation in our region,” Herzog said. “I look forward to working with you to strengthen the iron bond between our peoples, to build a future of peace and security for the Middle East, and to uphold our shared values. On behalf of the Jewish and democratic state of Israel and all our people, I wish you success.”

Viktor from Hungary Orbán

One of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Trump on Wednesday was one of the few who did supported him openly long before the final votes were cast in Hungary’s far-right President Viktor Orbán, who has been accused during his decades-long rule of the eastern European nation of eroding its democratic institutions, giving much 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 mediaOrbán said Trump had achieved “the greatest comeback in US political history” and congratulated him on his “enormous victory”.

Orban has made himself an outsider among European Union leaders, championing anti-immigrant policies and maintaining close ties with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine – all while promoting his close ties to Trump.

In a speech over the summer, Orbán suggested that he even helped shape Trump’s future policy, claiming that he “got into the policy writing system of President Donald Trump’s team” with “a deep involvement there.”

Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Parliament

Leonid Slutsky, who heads the Committee on International Affairs in Russia’s State Duma, or parliament, was quoted on Wednesday by state news agency RIA Novosti as saying Trump’s victory offered “a chance for a more constructive approach to the Ukrainian conflict.” “

“Trump was and remains a big businessman in big politics. Can we expect changes in the approach to the US role in the Ukrainian conflict, which was fueled by the Democratic administration in 2014? Judging by the election rhetoric (if it can still be believed), the Republican team will not send more and more American taxpayers’ money into the furnace of a proxy war against Russia,” said Slutsky. “Maybe there is a chance for a more constructive approach here.”

Slutsky did not comment on Trump’s repeated vows to quickly end the war in Ukraine if re-elected – something European and Ukrainian leaders fear he might by ending America’s vast military support for Kiev and forcing Ukraine to accept Russia’s takeover of significant Ukrainian territory.

Slutsky predicted, however, that if the next US administration cut off that support, the US-backed Ukrainian government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would fall “within months, if not days”.

There was no immediate reaction from President Vladimir Putin, who has never spoken in favor of any candidate during the US election campaign process, but whose leadership Trump praised previous.

The leader of the European Union

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s governing body, the European Commission, congratulated Trump on Wednesday and reiterated her hope in a short post on social media that the US and the EU could “collaborate on a strong transatlantic agenda that continues to deliver results” for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

“I warmly congratulate Donald J. Trump. The EU and the US are more than just allies,” Von der Leyen said. “We are bound by a true partnership between our people that unites 800 million citizens. So let’s work together on a strong transatlantic agenda that continues to deliver.”

Prime Minister of Great Britain

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer did his best on Wednesday, despite a clear demarcation between his own policies and those expected from another Trump administration, to maintain the setting of the “special friendship” story between the two nations.

One post on social mediaStarmer congratulated Trump “on your historic election victory,” adding that he looked forward to “working with you for years to come.”

“As our closest allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of our shared values ​​of freedom, democracy and enterprise,” said Starmer, who came to power just months ago when Britain’s left-wing Labor Party won the national election in a landslide after a decade and a half in charge of the Conservative Party.

“I know that the special relationship between the US and the UK will continue to thrive on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come,” Starmer added.