Shots heard around the world: Global leaders react to Trump assassination attempt

The shots were heard around the world.

And leaders from across the globe, both allies and rivals alike, were quick to condemn the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on X that he was “sickened by the shooting.” “Political violence is never acceptable.”

European leaders were also quick to offer their support to Trump, who was shot in the ear. Several European leaders and politicians had been attacked in the run-up to elections there.

The U.K.’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he was “appalled by the shocking scenes.”

“Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack,” he wrote on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz both wished Trump a “speedy recovery” in posts on X. Macron added that France shared “the shock and indignation of the American people,” while Scholz said: “Such acts of violence threaten democracy.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also offered her “best wishes” to the presumptive Republican nominee.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X that “such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world.” He offered his condolences to the spectator who was killed at the rally and two other people who were critically injured.

And in Japan, where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died after he was shot at a political campaign event in July 2022, the country’s current leader, Fumio Kishida, called for a stand against violence that “challenges democracy.”

In the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife, Sara, were