orld leaders from the United Kingdom to Pakistan took to social media Saturday to congratulate the American president elect and celebrate a return to a previous era in American global relationships.
Biden’s victory marks the end of a divisive four-year term in which sitting U.S. President Donald Trump exited longstanding international agreements and stroked ire with long-term American allies. In 2018, despite discouragement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump applied tariffs to American steel and aluminum products, prompting tariffs from steel-producing allies such as Canada and the EU. In 2019, he announced the U.S. would officially be leaving the Paris climate agreement, a 2015 pact to reduce greenhouse gases and finance climate change efforts in lower-income countries. Trump provoked conflict with North Korea in 2017 and with Iran in early 2020. And throughout his entire presidency, Trump complained about American participation in NATO, and some even thought the U.S. would withdraw if he won a second term.
The reactions of world leaders to the predicted Biden victory lends legitimacy to the pending American transfer of power. Messages from foreign leaders are common when a new U.S. president is elected; less common, however, are the undertones from many foreign leaders suggesting their relief that the Trump era in American politics is over. Several leaders’ statements mentioned the importance of working with the U.S. on climate change, an issue that was often cast aside by the Trump administration. A full statement released by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notes states that his country intends to work with the U.S. to take climate action around the globe. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed similar sentiments, saying that he hoped to work with the U.S. on issues from “climate change to trade and security.”
Stefan Löfven, the Prime Minster from Sweden, also expressed a desire to work in a capacity the Trump administration had shunned, mentioning “multilateralism” in his congratulations. Other leaders had less loaded modes of wishing for collaboration with the United States. Macron, noting that the countries have a lot to do in terms of facing modern issues, tweeted a cheerful “let’s work together!” in his congratulatory message.
Biden is expected to repair ties with Europe; before the election, Hans Kundnani, a researcher focusing on Europe and trans-Atlantic relations at the UK-based think tank Chatham House, noted that Europeans would be “extremely relieved” by a Biden victory. However, positive sentiments were not expressed worldwide. Though President Barham Salih offered his congratulations, Biden’s victory drew mixed reactions in Iraq, where many remembered the former senator as being a proponent of the 2003 American invasion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a notable Trump ally, initially waited before joining the chorus of global leaders but then eventually tweeted out his congratulations early Sunday morning.
Official election results are something Trump himself has called for as he refuses to concede the election. In a statement made after NBC News called a Biden victory Saturday morning, Trump said that the election was “far from over,” and that, “Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges.” The Trump campaign has already filed several lawsuits, and said that he expects to start prosecuting his case in courts starting Monday, despite projections of a Biden victory from several other major American news outlets, including CNN, ABC News, Fox News and The Associated Press. Trump’s ire was also recorded abroad, as outlets from New Zealand to the Philippines reported on his election doubts. Until president-elect Biden is inaugurated in January, the world will still wait at attention to see if Trump officially concedes the election.
Here is a compilation of front pages of newspapers around the world.
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The Global Response to the U.S. Election
Photo by Rene Deanda via Unsplash.
November 8, 2020
World leaders congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
W
orld leaders from the United Kingdom to Pakistan took to social media Saturday to congratulate the American president elect and celebrate a return to a previous era in American global relationships.
Biden’s victory marks the end of a divisive four-year term in which sitting U.S. President Donald Trump exited longstanding international agreements and stroked ire with long-term American allies. In 2018, despite discouragement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump applied tariffs to American steel and aluminum products, prompting tariffs from steel-producing allies such as Canada and the EU. In 2019, he announced the U.S. would officially be leaving the Paris climate agreement, a 2015 pact to reduce greenhouse gases and finance climate change efforts in lower-income countries. Trump provoked conflict with North Korea in 2017 and with Iran in early 2020. And throughout his entire presidency, Trump complained about American participation in NATO, and some even thought the U.S. would withdraw if he won a second term.
The reactions of world leaders to the predicted Biden victory lends legitimacy to the pending American transfer of power. Messages from foreign leaders are common when a new U.S. president is elected; less common, however, are the undertones from many foreign leaders suggesting their relief that the Trump era in American politics is over. Several leaders’ statements mentioned the importance of working with the U.S. on climate change, an issue that was often cast aside by the Trump administration. A full statement released by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notes states that his country intends to work with the U.S. to take climate action around the globe. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed similar sentiments, saying that he hoped to work with the U.S. on issues from “climate change to trade and security.”
Stefan Löfven, the Prime Minster from Sweden, also expressed a desire to work in a capacity the Trump administration had shunned, mentioning “multilateralism” in his congratulations. Other leaders had less loaded modes of wishing for collaboration with the United States. Macron, noting that the countries have a lot to do in terms of facing modern issues, tweeted a cheerful “let’s work together!” in his congratulatory message.
Biden is expected to repair ties with Europe; before the election, Hans Kundnani, a researcher focusing on Europe and trans-Atlantic relations at the UK-based think tank Chatham House, noted that Europeans would be “extremely relieved” by a Biden victory. However, positive sentiments were not expressed worldwide. Though President Barham Salih offered his congratulations, Biden’s victory drew mixed reactions in Iraq, where many remembered the former senator as being a proponent of the 2003 American invasion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a notable Trump ally, initially waited before joining the chorus of global leaders but then eventually tweeted out his congratulations early Sunday morning.
Official election results are something Trump himself has called for as he refuses to concede the election. In a statement made after NBC News called a Biden victory Saturday morning, Trump said that the election was “far from over,” and that, “Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges.” The Trump campaign has already filed several lawsuits, and said that he expects to start prosecuting his case in courts starting Monday, despite projections of a Biden victory from several other major American news outlets, including CNN, ABC News, Fox News and The Associated Press. Trump’s ire was also recorded abroad, as outlets from New Zealand to the Philippines reported on his election doubts. Until president-elect Biden is inaugurated in January, the world will still wait at attention to see if Trump officially concedes the election.
Here is a compilation of front pages of newspapers around the world.
