Elites' fear

European Temper Trumptums

Europe Holds "Panic Dinner"

"A world is collapsing before our eyes", tweeted the French ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, as it became clear that Donald Trump had won the US presidential election. Although he later apparently deleted the tweet, the sentiment expressed in his tweet encapsulates the attitude of the majority of the European political establishment.

Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's international broadcaster, described the reaction to Trump's victory across Germany's political spectrum as "shock and uncertainty." Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen described Trump's win as a "heavy shock." German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted: "The world won't end, but things will get more crazy".

Green party leader Cem Özdemir called Trump's election a "break with the tradition that the West stands for liberal values."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said:

"Trump is the trailblazer of a new authoritarian and chauvinist international movement. ... They want a rollback to the bad old times in which women belonged by the stove or in bed, gays in jail and unions at best at the side table. And he who doesn't keep his mouth shut gets publicly bashed."