Updated Nov. 6, 2024, 12:30 a.m.*
The world is watching, indeed.
As polls begin to close in the U.S. states, Worldcrunch is keeping a special eye on how it looks for and from the rest of the world. More than ever, this American presidential election has become a truly global event, and we’re tracking international reaction, in the press and on the street, as the potential consequences of either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris securing victory matter to billions.
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We’re tracking real-time coverage across continents and languages, with reports on which world leaders stand to benefit from a victory from either candidate, how Russia is covering the last-minute polls, whether Germany’s center-left government could collapse if Trump wins and a conspiracy theory brewing in Iran’s exiled opposition press about a secret accord between the Republicans and the regime in Tehran.
Polls start to close
The first results began to arrive in several U.S. states in the early hours of Wednesday in Europe and Africa, and as dawn broke over Asia and Australia in a historic election that pits Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump. We here at Worldcrunch will do our best to keep up!
As the first polls closed, Italian daily La Stampa's latest update: "Trump ahead in Indiana and Kentucky. Claims fraud. Police deny it. Harris in Democratic headquarter: "Every vote counts."
Magazine covers and newspaper front pages all seem to be sharing the same top story, after an unprecedented campaign season marked by the withdrawal of the incumbent president Joe Biden and two assassination attempts on Republican nominee Donald Trump, who is neck-and-neck with Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris. Many fear unrest, following such a combative campaign and four years after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters contesting his defeat.
German weekly Stern sees Tuesday’s election as the “American Battle,” while The New Yorker captures the risks to American democracy. Here's a collection of 18 international front pages about election day.
Who are world leaders’ secretly and not-so-secretly rooting for?
World leaders are closely monitoring the tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Many European leaders appear to favor Harris, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressing confidence in her potential presidency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, although he “admires Trump’s admiration of, well, Putin”, as Politico recently put it, Putin said Russia would do what the Democratic president had asked his followers to do and “support” Harris. According to Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Putin is actually hoping for a tie, and the mayhem that may ensue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has not publicly endorsed either candidate, as both major U.S. parties maintain a tough stance on China.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to lack a strong preference, recognizing that both parties share a consensus on strengthening ties with India.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly favors Donald Trump, while polls show that 66% of Israelis prefer Trump compared to just 17% for Harris.
The world leader who may most closely align with Trump's political style and ideology is Argentina’s relatively newly elected President Javier Milei. The firebrand conservative shares many of Trump's populist, anti-establishment views, not to mention often crazed antics. Like Trump, Milei has advocated for significant reductions in government spending, expressed skepticism towards climate change initiatives, and adopted a confrontational approach to traditional media. For Buenos Aires daily Clarín, “the affinity between President Javier Milei and the former Republican president is clear.”
Iranian plots?
Bahram Farrokhi, writing for Kayhan-London, the Persian-language opposition news website, attempts to put together the pieces of some notable recent moves by Tehran to conclude that the Iranian regime may have cut a secret deal over future ties with the Trump team. He compares it to the infamous hostages deal with Ronald Reagan ahead of the 1980 U.S. elections.
"I am peddling neither conspiracy theories or science fiction to simply state that the Islamic Republic of Iran is sending out unusual signals ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential elections, which cannot be overlooked even if their interpretations appear implausible.
Recent actions by the Islamic Republic all suggest a sudden series of reversals in Iranian policies. These include the execution of an Iranian-German national, Jamshid Sharmahd; threatening to strike Israel even harder than its previous rounds to retaliate for the air attacks 10 days ago on military targets; deliberately harming ties with Europe, notably its biggest economy Germany, which is openly backing the U.S. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
These actions starkly contrast with the regime's attempts in recent months to cut a more conciliatory profile, notably with the election of the sitting president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and to convey interest in talking with the West."
Read the full piece, translated/adapted from Persian by Worldcrunch.
Beirut reports on Trump's final plea to Lebanese-Americans
Lebanese news site Daraj reported Tuesday on Donald Trump’s recent efforts to exploit Muslim voters’ outrage at President Joe Biden’s pro-Israeli policies, particularly in the swing state of Michigan, home to a large Arab-American population.
With Israel intensifying bombings of Beirut and Lebanese southern towns in recent weeks, Trump focused in particular on Lebanese-Americans
He addressed the Lebanese-American community in Michigan, saying that there had been peace in the Middle East during his 2016-2020 term. He said that he will restore peace in the region and fix problems created by Biden’s administration.
Daraj reported that Trump depends largely on two Lebanese-Americans to help his outreach to Arab Americans. The first is businessman Massad Boulos, whose son, Michael, married Tiffany Trump, the candidate’s youngest daughter. The second is Antoun Sehnaoui, a Lebanese banker and film producer. He is the chairman of Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL).
Fate of Bulgaria's coalition hanging to U.S. election outcome
Bulgarians recently voted in the seventh parliamentary election over the past four years. On Oct. 27, voters confirmed the conservative party GERB as the top party. Yet, the results are inconclusive, as previous snap elections (the latest was in June) failed to materialize into a ruling coalition. But the Nov. 5 elections in the U.S. could be pivotal to see how the stalemate is resolved.
“If Donald Trump wins, GERB will no longer see any reason to limit itself to pro-Western forces when choosing a coalition partner,” writes Adelheid Wolfl in the Austrian daily Der Standard. One party that was previously excluded is the DPS New Beginning, led by oligarch and media mogul Delyan Peevski, who faced U.S. sanctions in 2021 resulting in the confiscation of his assets in the U.S. It could be removed from the sanctions list if Trump wins.
The pro-Kremlin parties “Rebirth”, the right-wing “Greatness” or the Socialists will also gain a foothold for consideration by GERB if Trump wins. “Under Trump, there will no longer be any pressure from Washington to strictly maintain Bulgaria's western orientation,” says Wolfl.
Could Germany's ruling coalition collapse with a Trump victory?
The German government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz is fragile and analysts wonder whether a Donald Trump return to the White House would make it more or less fragile than it already is.
Like the rest of Western Europe, in Germany both the political class and public opinion are pulling for a Kamala Harris victory. Recent polls report that more than 75% of Germans would prefer a Harris victory.
European opinion, notably, extends to Ukraine. For Ukrainians, the outcome of this election is nothing short of an existential verdict. Harris has assured that she will continue to support the invaded country. Trump, on the other hand, has made a commitment to end the war as soon as possible: there are reasonable fears that this would happen on Putin's terms. Without continued U.S. aid, Ukraine will lose the war. No other country can step into the gap, not even Germany, the second-largest supporter, and certainly not now, when aid fatigue is spreading and pro-Russian parties have won recent elections in the eastern regions of Thuringia and Saxony.
“A Trump victory would have a catalytic effect on the populists and system overthrowers in Europe. If the oldest democracy in the world is faltering, why shouldn't we expect extremists to seize power here in Germany?” says Stefan Kornelius on the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Another victory for the international populist far-right would be a boost to Germany’s far-right AFD party, and make the fragile German “traffic-light” coalition of Socialists and Greens look even less legitimate and intensify internal conflicts, especially on the environmental front.
Germany’s pro-business FDP Libertarians have long been waiting for the right time to trigger a government collapse, and they might push back harder on environmental policies, threatening the coalition’s unity.
Still some analysts, like Anna Lehmann of Die Tageszeitung, believe the contrary might happen: feeling weaker and more isolated, both nationally and internationally, the parties that form the government coalition might decide to patch up their differences and stick together.
Russian daily Kommersant jumping the gun
The above map of the U.S. electoral college is displayed prominently on the website of Moscow-based Kommersant — and it falls somewhere between misinformation and disinformation.
Citing as its source the U.S. website The Hill (which is widely seen as being pro-Trump), Kommersant presents a picture to Russian readers of an expected lopsided election result. Indeed, the seven swing states (which are barely distinguishable) are deadlocked by virtually all polling numbers. It is not clear if the Russian news source — a historically independent and well-respected publication that has nonetheless toed the line in its coverage to stay in Vladimir Putin’s good graces — is intentionally manipulating the poll data or simply sloppy in its presentation.
The Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza features an analysis by veteran correspondent Wacław Radziwinowicz, who believes that Putin isn’t particularly interested in a Trump victory. He’d rather see Tuesday end with no clear winner — and the chaos that would likely bring. Here’s the story, translated and adapted from Polish by Worldcrunch.
Praying for Kamala Harris’ victory in her ancestral village in India
Among rice paddies and coconut groves, in the village of Thulasendrapuram (Tamil Nadu, India), locals are rallying for Kamala with an enthusiasm that overshadows even the most Democratic districts of Brooklyn or California. There’s a reason for this: Harris’ maternal ancestors come from here. Although Harris has never visited, villagers proudly claim her as a "the daughter of the land," AP reports, and her campaign has filled the inhabitants with hope and excitement.
In a special prayer ceremony at the Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple, led by the village priest M. Natarajan, residents prayed for Harris' victory. Worshippers gathered around an idol of Lord Ayyanar, a form of Shiva, with the belief that their prayers could bring her success. The Presidential Candidate’s name appears on a plaque of temple donors, alongside her grandfather’s, as a testament to her family's legacy. There is even a water tank bearing her name.
All good in Dollywood?
Touring a deeply divided America, German daily Die Zeit discovered Dollywood — the theme park created by country music icon Dolly Parton — as an unexpected oasis of unity.
Visiting the park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, reporter Rieke Havertz says Dollywood is a place where political differences seem to fade away — suggesting that love for “Jolene” singer may transcend partisan lines and offer a welcome respite from the intense political climate. Or, as a visitor named Tammy suggests, “There's no politics here."
*Originally published Nov. 5, 2024, the piece was updated Nov. 6 with new information on Germany and Lebanon and enriched media.