The world reacted with shock, awe and no small measure of disbelief as voters made Donald Trump the next president of the United States, electing a populist firebrand who has promised sweeping changes to American policy.
CNN called the race for Trump shortly before 3:00 am ET on Wednesday, and reaction from international media was swift.
“TRUMPLAND,” blared the website of the Daily Mail, which described the race as the “most extraordinary presidential campaign in modern history.” The Guardian, another U.K. paper, simply said: “Trump victory stuns world.”
In Mexico, media outlets were focused on a sharp drop in the value of the peso to an all-time low. “Dollar breaks barrier,” read the lead headline on El Sol de Mexico, a leading newspaper in the nation’s capital.
The Manila Bulletin, a newspaper in the Philippines, filled its website’s latest news section with U.S. election dispatches. “Some Americans look to Canada, New Zealand as Trump lead grows,” read one wire service story featured by the paper’s editors.
Indian news anchor Rajdeep Sardesai called it the “election to beat all elections” and a “miracle.”
In Europe, many newspapers were even more direct: “United States fears total paralysis,” said a headline in Spain’s El Pais.
The Economist, a British publication that often trumpets its fondness for the U.S., described Tuesday evening as “Fright night.” Prior to Election Day, it had published a strident editorial that warned Americans against voting for Trump.
“His experience, temperament and character make him horribly unsuited to being the head of state of the nation that the rest of the democratic world looks to for leadership,” it said.
Global Times, a newspaper backed by China’s ruling Communist Party, described Trump’s victory in equally stark terms.
“Trump’s win renders a big psychological shock, delivering a heavy blow on core political pillars in the U.S.,” the paper said. “It makes people feel that the American political framework and foundations are broken.”
— Rishi Iyengar, Serena Dong and Steve George contributed reporting.