International reactions to Trump's presidential victory

Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election and will be returning to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. He defeated current Vice President Kamala Harris in order to regain his seat in the Oval Office.

Trump’s win has shown to be extremely polarizing within the United States but those within our country are not the only ones to have voiced their opinions. Many international leaders have shared their opinions on how they feel about Trump’s victory.

Vladimir Putin - President of Russia

On Thursday Putin publicly congratulated Trump on Thursday following a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, around 36 hours after results were revealed.

Putin referred to Trump as a “brave man” in reference to the assassination attempt that occurred back in July.

Putin also said he was ready to talk to Donald Trump about Ukraine with his statement, “desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.” Trump has previously stated that he would put an end to the war in Ukraine.

Xi Jinping - President of China

The President of China also congratulated Trump on saying and called for both nations to find the “right way to get along” and “properly manage differences” in this new era.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Zing said the following in regards to Trump’s win, “We will continue to approach and handle China-US relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.”

Trump has previously stated that he plans on imposing a sixty percent tariff on all Chinese imports.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy - President of Ukraine

Zelensky congratulated Trump on Wednesday. He called his victory an impressive one and said that he looks forward to "an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump's decisive leadership."

He recalled a meeting with Trump back in September where they discussed the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership and the plan to put an end to the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

In a social media post, Zelensky said that the country is interested "in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations."

Trump has vowed to quickly put an end to the war in Ukraine, a sentiment which Zelensky offered no comment on as his government has voiced concern that Trump could dramatically decrease the amount of American military support.

Benjamin Netanyahu - Israeli Prime Minister

Netanyahu offered congratulations to Trump on Wednesday where he said the following, "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory."

Netanyahu was reportedly one of the first foreign leaders to call and congratulate Trump personally.

Despite Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu’s handling of the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu was reportedly favored as a candidate in the election.

Nikolai Wagner is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To email him, contact njw5648@psu.edu.