World leaders react to Trump assassination attempt

World leaders reacted with shock to the wounding of Donald Trump in an assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13. Presidents and prime ministers globally spoke out against political violence and expressed their support for those affected by the shooting on Saturday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday he was “appalled by the shocking scenes” at the rally. “Political violence in any form has no place in our societies,” the premier said.

China’s President Xi Jinping expressed his “compassion and sympathy” to Trump on Sunday. “China is closely following the situation surrounding the shooting of former President Donald Trump,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Referring to “these dark hours,” Hungary’s nationalist leader Victor Orban offered his “thoughts and prayers” to Trump.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was “following with apprehension” updates from Pennsylvania and wished Trump a speedy recovery.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “the attack on US presidential candidate Donald Trump is despicable. I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with the people who were affected by the attack. Such acts of violence threaten democracy.”

In neighboring France, President Emmanuel Macron called the assassination attempt a “tragedy for our democracies.” France “shares the shock and indignation of the American people,” he said.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei blamed the “international left” after the assassination attempt. “In panic of losing at the polls, they resort to terrorism to impose their backward and authoritarian agenda,” said the populist president.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the shooting “must be strongly condemned by all defenders of democracy and political dialogue.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke out against political attacks, saying “we must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy.”

Russia looks to score points on Ukraine

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife Sara “were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump.” “We pray for his safety and speedy recovery,” Netanyahu said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres “unequivocally” condemned “this act of political violence,” a spokesman said. “He sends his best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery,” Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday she was “deeply shocked by the shooting” and added, “I wish Donald Trump a speedy recovery and offer my condolences to the family of the innocent victim. Political violence has no place in a democracy.”

The Kremlin strongly condemned any violence in the context of politics, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday. “After numerous attempts to eliminate candidate Trump from the political arena using first all legal tools – courts, prosecutors, attempts of political discrediting – it is obvious to all outside observers that his life is in danger,” Peskov said, adding however that “we do not at all believe that the attempt was organized by the current power”.

Russia also called on the United States Sunday to “take stock” of its “policies of incitement to hatred,” while using the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump to denounce support for Ukraine. Addressing “those who vote in the United States to supply arms” to Kyiv, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced support for Kyiv, which she said stoked “attacks against the Russian president.” She added that “perhaps it would be better to use this money to fund the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure law and order in the United States?”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “appalled to learn about the shooting” and wished Trump a speedy recovery. “Such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world. Never should violence prevail,” he said.

The Vatican, meanwhile, voiced “its concern following yesterday’s violent episode which injures people and democracy, provoking suffering and death.”