How the world reacted to Trump’s midterm defeat: 6 things to know

By JIM TANKERSLEY and DAMIEN CAVE

Global leaders offered little public sympathy to President Donald Trump after his party was blown out in the midterm elections, even as they wondered what the result might mean for trade, energy and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Trump’s enemies abroad — and many of his more estranged frenemies, as well — could not hide their glee Wednesday morning after Democrats seized the House and Senate. There were celebrations in Iran and China, in Spain and South Africa, and from some European officials in Brussels.

From many of Trump’s closest allies, there was largely silence. There was no official reaction from leaders in Britain, France, Germany or Italy, — or in the Latin American countries now led by right-wing leaders, some endorsed by Trump.

It was a reflection, analysts said, of the shocking scale of the defeat — and of a desire not to further antagonize a president who retains great power on the world stage.

“In response to a Democrat-controlled Congress,” said Ja-Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, “Trump could try to find distractions elsewhere, including on tariffs and the use of force.”

Here are six things to know about the global fallout.

1. America’s aggrieved friends cheered.

Trump has antagonized some traditional U.S. allies this term, and those allies were happy to needle him.

Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s foreign minister, said in a text that the election results were “a great victory for democracy and the rule of law in the USA and the world.” The relationship between the two countries has been tense since Trump falsely alleged that white South Africans were being killed in a genocide and that the government was seizing white-owned land.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, a darling of the left and a vocal Trump critic facing a snap election this month, said the returns showed a global surge of far-right parties was “no longer growing: It is collapsing.”

“Yesterday, American society voted against policies that only impoverish,” he wrote on social media.

2. Europe’s far right was quiet — and so were centrist leaders.

There was mostly silence from previously outspoken Trump backers across Central and Eastern Europe, where right-wing nationalist politicians once hitched their fortunes to the president and backed his false claims of winning the 2020 presidential election.

In France, Italy and elsewhere, far-right leaders offered muted reactions that seemed to distance their parties from Trump.

The president of France’s far-right National Rally, Jordan Bardella, told a radio interviewer, “I am not an American voter, and we must respect the American people’s vote, whatever it may be.”

Johann Wadephul, the German foreign minister, said Wednesday, “I am confident that we will continue to find partners in America with whom we can work closely together.”

3. There was confusion over what’s next in Iran …

In Asia, which relies heavily on energy from the Middle East, the Democratic victory initially produced a wisp of optimism that Trump, rebuked over the Iran war and high gas prices, would seek to resolve the conflict.

Iranian leaders stoked that sentiment with a taunting message.

“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on social media.

On social media, some Iranians joked that while Trump had started the war partly to topple Iran’s authoritarian government, the most significant political consequence had been in the United States.

“Eight months of war with Iran. The achievement? Regime change in America!” wrote Seyed Alireza Salehi, an Iran-based religious scholar.

But some analysts, in Iran and elsewhere, expressed concern that Trump could reescalate, possibly in conjunction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, worsening the squeeze on oil and gas supplies.

4. … and with trade.

Trump still has sweeping trade powers. Now that he is no longer concerned about drawing attention to inflation before the elections, analysts said, he might make a reinvigorated push to impose tariffs on countries such as Japan, Vietnam and, especially, China.

“People are deeply uneasy about the Trump administration’s past actions and remain anxious about the future,” said Kazuhiro Maeshima, a professor of American politics and diplomacy at Sophia University in Tokyo, discussing the mood in Japan.

Congress, however, could use its newfound leverage to shape some of the details.

There were similar concerns in China, along with public revelry. On Weibo, China’s dominant social media platform, the hashtag “Trump suffered a complete and utter defeat” trended as results were announced.

Analysts see little reason to believe that Democrats would be friendlier to Beijing than Trump. Democrats, too, have increasingly adopted a tougher posture on China when it comes to economic competition.

5. No one knows what it means for Ukraine.

Ukraine and its European backers spent the last month agonizing over increased tensions between Ukraine and Washington.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration agreed to purchase Russian diesel and urged Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries even as Moscow destroyed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

There was no immediate consensus about how the vote might change policy on Ukraine.

Moscow projected optimism. “President Trump continues to be in office, and we sincerely hope that he will also continue his peacemaking efforts,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in comments reported by a Kremlin pool reporter on Telegram.

Several analysts suggested that European leaders should effectively ignore the midterms; Washington, they said, would pull back regardless of who is in charge.

It would be a mistake to assume that a Democratic victory meant that “we don’t have to solve our problems ourselves and the big brother USA will do everything for us,” said Nico Lange, a Ukraine backer who is the director of the Institute for Risk Analysis and International Security, a think tank in Berlin.

6. Caution in the Americas

Trump’s second term has brought major shifts in Latin America. His administration has captured Venezuela’s leader, waged an intense pressure campaign on Cuba and clamped down on the Mexican border.

He has also pursued a new military response to drug-trafficking, bombing boat crews, conducting strikes inside Ecuador and Venezuela, and pressing leaders to deliver security wins such as taking down cartel heads.

Most of the region’s leaders stayed silent after the election, or spoke carefully. “We’ll have to wait and see,” President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, a leftist who has cultivated good relations with Trump, told reporters Wednesday morning. “Regardless of the election results, we seek the best possible relationship with the United States, always ensuring respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

In Brazil, where the left-wing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, pulled off a surprise victory in last month’s presidential election, José Guimarães, a minister and adviser to the president, was jubilant, calling the results “a true American tsunami.”

“Trump’s defeat is a victory for the democratic world,” he said.