The World Reacts To Donald Trump's Wild Assassination Attempt

No one in attendance at the July 13, Butler, Pennsylvania Donald Trump rally expected to see their presidential candidate come under gunfire, but 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks took aim from a nearby, unguarded roof, struck Trump's right ear, and was shot and killed by Secret Service agents. In the aftermath, the United States and the rest of the globe is trying to figure out what the assassination attempt means for the U.S., international politics, and democracy writ large. At the forefront of this discussion stands global leaders, whose opinions no doubt in many cases vary wildly from their citizenry. 

As AP News cites, world leaders largely expressed universal condemnation about the assassination attempt on Trump — with variation. In some cases, responses were blunt and authoritative, as with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, formerly known as Twitter, who wrote, "Strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies. Wish him speedy recovery." Other world leaders, like those of Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan, denounced the usage of violence in general to resolve political disputes in civilized democratic societies.

Yet other leaders used the opportunity to polemicize the assassination attempt, criticize the United States, or even bring up conspiracy theories. AP News describes Argentinian President Javier Milei, for instance, decrying the "desperation of the international left." Vladimir Putin, for his part, criticized the U.S. itself and, "the atmosphere that this administration [Biden's] created during the political struggle." On Facebook, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico went so far as to imply an organized assassination attempt on behalf of Trump's political opponents.

Overall, global responses regarding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump have been largely supportive, straddling the line between stern-lipped and sympathetic. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X epitomizes this reaction, calling the attack "despicable" on one hand, and on the other saying, "My thoughts are also with all of those who were affected by the attack." Prime Minister of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, went one heartfelt step further on X, writing, "I condemn the attack on President Donald J Trump in the strongest terms and wish him a speedy recovery." He also expressed concern for the "all the victims" of the attack and described the attack as a "senseless act of terrorism." President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen echoed these sentiments on X.

Other responses incorporated broader talk of "democracy" and "violence," like the aforementioned Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan. Similarly, France's Emmanuel Macron on X wrote, "It is a tragedy for our democracies. France shares the shock and indignation of the American people." Per AP News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said much the same, calling the attack an "assassination attempt on American democracy." Italian President Sergio Mattarella went the most verbose, calling the attack a "disconcerting symptom of the deterioration of the civil fabric" and a "refusal of ... respect for democratic life." While this final statement could be taken as an underhanded jab at American sociopolitical life, other world leaders were more direct in their criticisms — or fainter in their support.

On the supportive-but-not-supportive side of things, world leaders like Vladimir Putin didn't so much as condemn the assassination attempt on Donald Trump as he did the instability of U.S. politics. As AP News cites, Russian foreign minister spokesperson Maria Zakharova went much further, using the opportunity to repudiate international involvement in Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine and saying that the U.S. needs to direct its money "to finance the American police and other services," instead.

Chinese President Xi Jinping extended some faint support to Trump, saying per AP News that he is "concerned." The Chinese internet, meanwhile — which is state-run and walled off from the rest of the world, remember — is focused more on the drama of the moment Trump was attacked, calling Trump "a traditional Hollywood president," and praising his reflexes according to CNN. State-sponsored Beijing News, meanwhile, said that the attack "combined all the political symbols typical of an American election: violence, uncertainty, and tough guys."

While the statements of other world leaders could be characterized as slyly critical, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico sits at the most extreme end of the response spectrum. In a rambling Facebook post he alluded to assassination coups and compared Trump's assassination attempt to his own in May 2024, writing in part, "Scripted like through a copybook. Political Opponents of D. They are trying to shut Trump up and when they don't work out, they piss the public off so much that some loser picks up a gun."