Global reaction to Trump rally shooting: Shock, and questions about US democracy | Semafor

The news of a deadly shooting during former US president Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening shocked leaders across the Americas, while Europe and Asia woke up to what will likely be a dramatically changed US political landscape.

The reaction was a mix of horror at the incident, and questions — and, at times, conspiracy theories — about the state of US democracy. And world leaders, Trump’s allies and critics alike, heatedly denounced the attack.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X: “Sara and I were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump. We pray for his safety and speedy recovery.”

Newly elected UK prime minister Kier Starmer wrote: “I am appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally and we send him and his family our best wishes. Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”

Trump’s admirers on the global right were among the first to react to the shooting.

Javier Milei, the populist president of Argentina, took a more conspiratorial tone by resharing a post on X that suggested “globalists” who were desperate to “bring down” Trump had tried to kill him. Meanwhile the strongman president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, posted a single word, “Democracy?” to X moments after the incident.

Dutch Prime Minister Geert Wilders posted simply, “#prayfortrump.”

Leader of the French far right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, reacted by saying, “Violence is the poison of any democracy.”

Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, who recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, posted on X: “My thoughts and prayers are with President @realDonaldTrump in these dark hours.”

“I am following with apprehension the updates from Pennsylvania, where the 45th President of the United States @realDonaldTrump was shot during a rally,” Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni posted on X, according to a translation from Italian. “My solidarity and my best wishes for a speedy recovery go to him, with the hope that the next few months of the electoral campaign will see dialogue and responsibility prevail over hatred and violence. #Trump.”

Trump’s critics on the left also denounced the attack. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X he was “sickened.”

“We’ve been adversaries but I wish President Trump good health and long life,” said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. “I repudiate that attack. May god bless the people of the U.S. and give them peace and calm.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the attack should be “vehemently repudiated” by defenders of democracy, and the leftist president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, expressed “unqualified condemnation.”

The attack also dominated front pages around the world.

In China, the top comment on a post by the state-run People’s Daily amplified the phrase, “America the free, every day a shooting.”

The international editor of German newspaper, Der Spiegel, wrote simply: “We are at a terrible moment in history.”

This is a developing story, please check for updates.