As Americans processed Donald Trump’s Tuesday election victory, people and political leaders around the world began preparing for the second presidential term of a man who regularly demonizes foreigners and whose last tenure in the White House was defined by big, unexpected shifts on international issues.

The initial wave of reactions suggested widespread trepidation, particularly about the prospect that the U.S. is now firmly set to question its traditional alliances and its own democratic institutions.

Top global leaders congratulated Trump and said they look forward to working with him but also indicated they are trying to insulate their nations from the possible ramifications of his presidency.

That approach was clear in the tack of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the leaders of the two most powerful countries in the European Union.

Both congratulated Trump. But they also held a phone call with each other during which Macron said they discussed working together “towards a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context, cooperating with the United States of America, and defending our interests and values.”

Decision-makers in Europe — home to many of America’s closest allies — are likely to now believe they should take steps to secure their nations without U.S. support, Jane Kinnimont, the policy director at the European Leadership Network think tank, suggested in a post on X. Trump has repeatedly questioned U.S. involvement in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance and has argued that it exploits America.

Officials in other countries historically aligned with the U.S. also attempted to project confidence amid questions about how Trump might handle foreign affairs.

One nation that could face a flashpoint is Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory. Trump has blasted Taiwanese business practices and expressed admiration for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has pledged to bring Taiwan under his control in the coming years. Prior to the U.S. election, Taiwan’s leaders were already arguing that despite “uncertainty,” they felt they would still receive American support, saying it benefits the U.S. to maintain influence in the Asia-Pacific and deter aggressive actions by China.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s ruling political party, Han Ying, said she believes the “bipartisan consensus” in favor of close U.S.-Taiwan ties is “a stance that will not change due to elections.”

The leader of another vulnerable nation counting on American backing — Ukraine — was similarly careful not to seem downbeat. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Trump’s victory “impressive” and referenced cooperation to counter Russia’s ongoing assault on his country, which the U.S. has so far helped resist through a campaign of support that Trump and other Republicans have criticized.

For some authoritarian leaders, Trump’s win felt like a vindication of their own thinking and policies.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a strongman popular among U.S. conservatives, was the first leader to call and congratulate the Republican presidential candidate. And Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has consolidated power domestically and promoted populist politics across the Western world, called Trump’s success “A much needed victory for the World!” Muhammed bin Salman, the iron-fisted crown prince and de facto ruler and crown prince of Saudi Arabia, also counted among the first global leaders to speak with the triumphant Trump.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has promoted a far-right, quasi-authoritarian brand of politics similar to Trump’s ideology — declared Trump had pulled off “history’s greatest comeback.” As he relies on U.S. support for his devastating military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon and an escalating confrontation with Iran, Netanyahu likely feels empowered to continue or expand those policies, rather than rein them in or address concerns about violations of international law, given Trump’s historically pro-Israel bent and contempt for global human rights standards.

Yisrael Ganz, a leader in the Israeli movement to establish settlements in the occupied Palestinian region known as the West Bank in violation of international law, celebrated the U.S. election result and suggested it had historic consequences. “The threat of a Palestinian state is off the table,” Ganz said in a statement, hinting at the expectation that Trump will abandon Washington’s long-standing position that Israelis and Palestinians should resolve their decades-old conflict by establishing two states existing side by side.

Outside government channels, international observers were outspoken in their concern about the impact of U.S. policy shaped by Trump and those in his circle.

“This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world’s largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue. The next President of the United States is a man who actively undermines the rule of law, human rights, international trade, climate action and global security,” Ed Davies, the leader of the British opposition party the Liberal Democrats, argued in a statement.

Marietje Schaake, a Dutch politician who formerly served in the E.U.’s parliament, noted Trump’s links to dubious business figures like tech billionaire Elon Musk who are likely to challenge government regulation and influence his administration’s policy choices.

“The Trump victory is a victory for corporate tech, VCs and crypto powerbrokers,” Schaake, now a Stanford University nonresident fellow, wrote on X, using the acronym “VC” in reference to private equity investors. “The implications for transparency, civil liberties, democratic governance and accountability as well as a shaping of US (foreign) policies through their interests is one reason for concern.”

Trump’s bullying style towards other nations and leaders is likely to once again be a hallmark of his presidency. Several social media users in Japan posted fears that their prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, will struggle to contend with his new U.S. counterpart’s approach.

Speaking to the Financial Times, two senior E.U. officials were more forthright than the bloc’s leaders have been publicly. One who was part of a “war room” the Europeans set up to prepare for a new Trump administration said they were “afraid,” while the second said “it will be bad” on trade “and Ukraine is in big trouble.”

Europe’s own experience with populist and nationalist leaders, from the fascists who drove World War II to more contemporary political figures who consolidated power while casting themselves as anti-establishment, may offer some guidance for Americans and others globally about the Trump era.

Giulio Mattioli, a scholar at TU Dortmund University in Germany, drew a parallel to the experience of life under Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who dominated his nation’s politics for decades despite frequent scandals and overseeing the collapse of the Italian economy.

“When they win the first time, it’s tough, but when they win *again*, after all they’ve demonstrated, *that’s* the really hard one to take,” Mattioli wrote on X. “We live in liberal democracies with a lot of people who fundamentally reject key principles of liberal democracy.”

Yet it’s also from Europe that anti-Trump forces could draw inspiration, despite the seeming global lurch toward hard-right politics. In elections in Poland just about a year ago, opponents of the country’s hard-right party PiS succeeded in ejecting it from power after nearly a decade — a period during which PiS had molded the country’s judicial system, media and many government institutions in its image.

“One of the great strengths of democracy is the ability to self-correct when voters demand it,” The Washington Post’s editorial board wrote of that result when it occurred.