It’s official. Donald John Trump, the Donald, will become the 45th President of the United States. Will he manage to make America great again? Only time will tell. What we already know is how MEPs reacted to the election results.
This is what we found out:
Yes, the US election was the most discussed topic the morning after. Hashtags like #electionight, #uselection2016, #electionday, etc… were the most popular ones while @realDonaldTrump was the most mentioned handle by MEPs on this side of the Atlantic.
The first ones to congratulate Mr Trump were, not surprisingly, Ms Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) – who said that now the American people are finally free – and Mr Farage (@Nigel_Farage) who praised the newly elected president for having fought a brave campaign. With almost 10,000 retweets & likes for Mr Farage and more than 16,000 for Ms Le Pen, their tweets were by far the most popular ones this morning:
Félicitations au nouveau président des Etats-Unis Donald Trump et au peuple américain, libre ! MLP
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) 9 November 2016
I hand over the mantle to @RealDonaldTrump! Many congratulations. You have fought a brave campaign. pic.twitter.com/txD3RFMQ2l
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) 9 November 2016
What did the main party leaders say?
Contrary to their enthusiasm, Mr Verhofstadt (ALDE Group), Mr Pittella (S&D Group) and Mr Weber (EPP Group) called on the EU to be united and strong against the spread of populism worldwide.
Trump wins. Not only missed chance to elect a 1st woman president. Wake up call for Europe to further unite & take charge of its own destiny
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) 9 November 2016
È un giorno triste per il mondo. #Trump esprime un virus che si diffonde lungo gli Stati Uniti e l’Europa. L’UE deve essere l’anticorpo.
— Gianni Pittella (@giannipittella) 9 November 2016
It’s now up to Europe. We must be more self-confident and assume more
responsibility. #USElection2016 1/2— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) 9 November 2016
Ms Harms (Greens) commented that we do not understand American people and wondered if we understand the European people any better – followed by the hashtag #populism.
Ok. Wir verstehen die Amerikaner nicht. Aber verstehen wir die Europäer? #Trump #populism
— Rebecca Harms (@RebHarms) 9 November 2016
Syed Kamall (ECR Group) congratulated the newly-elected president and wished for Europe and America to maintain a strong transatlantic relationship.
Congratulations @realdonaldtrump. Let’s now come together to focus on our common interests to maintain a strong trans-Atlantic relationship.
— Syed Kamall (@SyedKamall) 9 November 2016
If Mr Farage didn’t wait to congratulate Mr Trump, David Borrelli (EFDD Group) did not seem to pay much attention to the election and went on about his business talking about China and its market economy status (MES) recognition.
Oggi @M5S_Europa, @beppe_grillo, #DavideCasaleggio,insieme a lavoratori e cittadini europei per dire ancora #NoMesCina! pic.twitter.com/ZFyphVo0p9
— David Borrelli (@borrellidavid) 9 November 2016
At the time of publication, Gabi Zimmer (GUE/NGL Group) also appears to have remained Twitter-silent about the elections.