World watches US election

El Salvador’s leader Nayib Bukele — whose brutal domestic crackdown on gangs has won huge popular support and curbed levels of violence in his country, but who has received sharp criticism for rights violations — was among the first world leaders to publicly congratulate Donald Trump, whom he described as the US “president-elect.”

Though Trump is in the driver’s seat, he has not publicly claimed victory, nor been projected the winner of the US presidential election.

That the events of Jan. 6, 2021, didn’t sound the death knell of Trump’s political career signals the collapse of “whole swathes” of the US political system, and spells further trouble for its future should he take the White House again, Le Monde argued in an editorial. With any potential presidential immunity, should he win the election, we have “every reason to fear” what Trump might do next, the outlet wrote.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khameini has remained “unusually silent” this election season despite commenting on every race over the past 35 years, according to Iran International, an opposition news channel. Although also a frequent critic of Democrats, his silence is “particularly striking” given Trump’s antagonization of Tehran.

Still, the moderate government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed more willingness to negotiate with Washington despite the Biden administration’s hardline stance on Iran, according to Al Jazeera. If a future Harris administration is willing, “Iran would not have any major obstacles for direct bilateral talks,” said one Tehran-based political analyst.

The British public are looking across the Atlantic with a sense of bewilderment, the head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 told The New Yorker. The channel’s Tuesday broadcast will be its first overnight coverage of a US presidential election since Bill Clinton defeated George HW Bush in 1992: “British audiences are always interested in American elections… but this election feels like the stakes are so much higher,” she said. Expect repeated explanations of how the Electoral College works, and a focus on the race to the White House.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime supporter of Trump, told The Telegraph that the Republican nominee should concede defeat if he loses the election. He did the same in 2020, though, so Farage’s efforts to be a critical friend risk being ignored, The Independent’s associate editor argued.

Most Europeans would vote for Harris if they could, but there’s a predictable gulf between East and West, according to polling aggregated by Europe Elects: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands are the most staunchly pro-Harris, while Russia, Serbia, Georgia, and Hungary are overwhelmingly standing behind Trump.

Argentine President Javier Milei — a self-described libertarian and idol in South America’s MAGA world — has previously said he is willing to work with any president in an effort to improve relations with the US. A Trump win would strengthen Milei’s “symbolic agenda” of right-wing initiatives, such as slashing government agencies, wrote the left-wing Página 12 newspaper.

However, Milei has become one of Latin America’s most vocal supporters of Ukraine in the war with Russia, and has expressed interest in Argentina joining NATO, according to the Buenos Aires Times — creating “a potentially awkward position” given Trump’s historic criticism of the military alliance. Milei has also “softened” his stance on China, which could also complicate US-Argentine relations given Trump’s skepticism of Beijing.

Thulasendrapuram, an Indian village in the state of Tamil Nadu that was the birthplace of Harris’ maternal grandfather, was “quieter” in the run-up to the election this week than during her previous campaigns, according to The Indian Express. But a Hindu priest still held prayers for the Democratic nominee’s victory on Tuesday, Reuters reported: “She is one of us. She will win,” said a representative of a local village body.

Trump’s threats of protectionism and anti-migrant rhetoric are disturbing to India, which relies on the US as its largest trading partner, The Indian Express wrote in an editorial. But what’s said on the campaign trail doesn’t always translate into action, the outlet noted: A strong relationship between the two countries has long enjoyed bipartisan support, and “hopefully these pragmatic policies will be maintained, whoever the victor.”

Chinese state media has been remarkably silent on US politics in the run-up to the election, but recent days have seen broadcasters start to criticize the integrity of the American democratic process as a “money-burning event” characterized by “unprecedented chaos,” Bloomberg reported.

The Global Times, a state-funded outlet, opened a headline for an article on the polls with: “Amid fears for violence, US election day voting begins...”

Although China hasn’t explicitly commented on the policy positions of either candidate, The Global Times published an editorial arguing that the expansion of US tariffs risked transforming a conflict with Beijing “into a broader trade war against the world.”

With China’s top legislative body meeting this week to decide on a fiscal package to buoy the economy, analysts expect lawmakers to “issue a more proactive commitment” under a Trump presidency, potentially expanding the size of the stimulus by 10% to 20%.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US told Newsweek that China would not “interfere” in the US presidential election, adding that China would work with the US to advance “sustainable growth of bilateral relations” irrespective of the outcome.

Those hopeful that the next US president will “fix” the Middle East once and for all are bound to be disappointed, a columnist argued in Haaretz: Presidents tend to fancy themselves as powerful arbitrators in the region, but history shows that there’s often little connection between the grand plans cooked up by various administrations and what happens on the ground.

The paper’s editorial board took a slightly different tack: “For Israel’s sake, it is critical that Trump loses the race to the White House.” The majority of Israelis favor Trump, but his victory would embolden Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to further undermine what’s left of Israeli democracy, and risk leaving the country to fend for itself against Iran, it wrote.

Kyiv is watching the elections “nervously” amid fears that a Trump win would leave the country effectively defenseless against Russian aggression, or force it into an unfavorable peace deal, The Kyiv Independent reported.

“Think about Ukraine,” the outlet’s editorial board wrote in a direct appeal to American voters, arguing that continued support from Washington would help the US solidify its status as the leader of the free world.

Moscow doesn’t seem to think a new US president will do anything to change the status quo. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the US wouldn’t abandon its “Russophobic course” last week. His comments were echoed by the deputy chairman of Russia’s security council two days before the vote: “[Trump] can’t stop the war [in Ukraine]. Not in a day, not in three months, not in three years,” he wrote.

“Few relationships are as deep and as complex” as the one between the US and Mexico, wrote economist and El Universal columnist Valeria Moy, arguing that Harris offers the best path forward. Some Mexican conservatives have suggested Mexico’s economy did better under Trump, but the country’s GDP actually shrank by about 2% between 2017 and 2020, Moy noted.

Trump has also threatened Mexico with a 25% tariff on all goods if illegal border crossings do not slow down. And while Congress might block such actions, such threats “fill the atmosphere with uncertainty” and risk destabilizing Mexican markets, Moy argued. Harris’ policies might take longer to benefit Mexico but are ultimately “less capricious.”