Following the attack on Donald Trump on Saturday 13 July, European leaders expressed their indignation at what many described as an “attack on democracy”.
French President Emmanuel Macron reacted by posting a message on X, in which he spoke of a “tragedy for our democracies”, as did the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who said she was “deeply shocked” adding that “political violence has no place in a democracy”.
In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the attack as “repugnant”. From the UK, Keir Starmer, recently appointed Prime Minister, denounced the “shocking scenes”. He too stated that “political violence in any form has no place in our societies”.
Viktor Orbán, a great friend of Donald Trump, was keen to express his solidarity with the former American president, once again in a message posted on X. “My thoughts and prayers are with President Donald Trump in these dark hours”, wrote the Hungarian Prime Minister.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also “unequivocally” condemned the attack and wished Mr Trump a speedy recovery.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, also reacted to the attack, stating that “such violence has no justification and has no place anywhere in the world. Violence must never prevail”. He wished the former US head of state a speedy recovery, hoping that the United States would “emerge stronger” from this event.
Russia, through Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, condemned the attack and offered its “condolences” to “the family of the victim killed in this attack”. But Moscow also said it was not surprised by the event, given the political tensions in the United States. ”After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena [...], it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger”, Mr Peskov said in remarks reported by the Belgian press.
The Chinese, Brazilian and Israeli heads of state also expressed their solidarity with the former US president, wishing him a speedy recovery and describing the act as “unacceptable”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)