“The
election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a
tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a
triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism,
authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism. Trump’s shocking victory, his
ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the
United States and liberal democracy.
On January 20, 2017, we will bid
farewell to the first African-American President-a man of integrity,
dignity, and generous spirit-and witness the inauguration of a con who
did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white
supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less
than revulsion and profound anxiety.”David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker (November 9)
“President Donald Trump. Three words that were unthinkable to tens of millions of Americans - and much of the rest of the world - have now become the future of the United States.
Having confounded Republican elites in the primaries, Mr. Trump did the same to the Democrats in the general election, repeating the judo move of turning the weight of a complacent establishment against it. His victory is a humbling blow to the news media, the pollsters and the Clinton-dominated Democratic leadership…
Misogyny and racism played their part in his rise, but so did a fierce and even heedless desire for change.
That change has now placed the United States on a precipice.”
New York Times Editorial (November 9)
“…Even if Mr Trump does not land America and the world in a serious new conflict or a global depression, his effect on the trajectory of global growth and development could be substantial and terrible. Mr Trump may kick into reverse a process of globalisation which had already stalled. That will not restore to workers a golden age of prosperity and security. Instead, it will increase the extent to which the global economy feels like a zero-sum competition, increasing the risk of political conflict. It will also destroy a developmental ladder which had already been looking quite rickety. Developing economies will find themselves less able to use trade to boost their growth potential and less able to send migrants to richer countries… The picture of Trump world is far darker for those outside the rich world than within it. Yet within, it is dark enough.”
The Economist
“For the United States and for Europe, the moment of reckoning has now arrived: The West as we know it is nearing the end of its life. The United States of America has just elected as president a man who not only brags about groping women and swindles his business partners but who also openly dislikes America’s traditional allies - and Europeans most of all… Under President Trump, we cannot assume that America is still the leader of the free world - or the leader of anything. Protectionism, not free trade, has just won this election, and that will have consequences, too.”
Anne Applebaum, Columnist, Washington Post
“There is an understandable inclination to believe that by voting for and ultimately electing Donald Trump, white people (particularly working class white people) voted against their own self-interests. After all, this is a man who became a billionaire by swindling and defrauding and sometimes just outright not paying people exactly like them, and there’s no real evidence that a Trump presidency will be much different for them than the Trump industry has been.”
Damon Young is the editor-in-chief of VSB
“The unthinkable is only unthinkable until it happens. Then, like the sack of Rome, it can seem historically inevitable. So it is with the global political earthquake that is the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. If he is true to his campaign pledges, which were many and reckless, Mr Trump’s win will herald America’s most stunning reversal of political and economic orthodoxy since the New Deal in the 1930s, but with the opposite intention and effect. It halts the ailing progressive narrative about modern America and the 21st-century world in its tracks. It signals a seismic rupture in the American-dominated global liberal economic and political order that had seemed to command the 21st century after communism collapsed and China’s economy soared.”
The Guardian of UK
“We trust that Trump’s worst instincts to pit one ethnic group against another will be restrained once he is forced into the delicate position of governing. The nation is, furthermore, blessed by its Founding Fathers with a system of checks and balances. It has an independent court system and a Congress to restrain the more destructive, unconstitutional initiatives of a temperamental, ill-prepared president… Trump will soon find that many of his proposals are unworkable. In fact, many of them are not so much proposals as they are aspirations. He will not, for instance, be able to snap his fingers and bring back manufacturing jobs.
His failure to deliver on his preposterous promises threatens to leave the voters who put him in the White House even more disillusioned about politics than they already are.
What do they have to lose? We’re about to find out.”
USA Today Editorial (November 9)
“His win is a decisive rejection of Hillary Clinton and a harsh repudiation of President Obama… Trump’s victory is a punch in the face of the cultural elite, the Washington insiders and Wall Street, too. And it’s all left Democrats muttering about a rigged election and trying to pretend it’s all Jim Comey’s fault.
Trump has a clear mandate to fight for “his” voters, who pushed him over the top in enough swing states to carry the day. But now comes the hard part: delivering.”
New York Post Editorial (November 9)
“We heard the campaign statements of the future US presidential candidate about the restoration of relations between Russia and the United States. It is not an easy path, but we are ready to do our part and do everything to return Russian and American relations to a stable path of development. This would be good for both the Russian and American people and have a positive impact on the climate of world affairs.”
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation
“The election campaign this year was a particular one with some confrontations that were difficult to stomach. I watched the election result with particular suspense. Someone elected to be president by the American people in free and fair elections has importance far beyond the USA.
For us Germans, other than with the European Union, we have no deeper connection than with the United States of America. Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom, and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political views.
I offer the next President of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values. The partnership with the United States is and remains a foundation of German foreign policy.”
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
“I offer my congratulations, as it is natural to do between two heads of democratic states. What is at stake is peace, the fight against terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, economic relations and the preservation of the planet.
Some positions taken by Donald Trump during the US campaign contradict values and interests we share with the United States. This context calls for a united Europe, capable of making itself heard and of promoting policies wherever its interests or its values are challenged. His victory opens a period of uncertainty that must be met with lucidity and clarity.”
François Hollande, President of the French Republic
“In the aftermath of a hard-fought and often-divisive campaign, it is worth recalling and reaffirming that the unity in diversity of the United States is one of the country’s greatest strengths. I encourage all Americans to stay true to that spirit…
The United Nations will count on the new Administration to strengthen the bonds of international cooperation as we strive together to uphold shared ideals, combat climate change, advance human rights, promote mutual understanding and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)to achieve lives of peace, prosperity and dignity for all.”
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
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