MOSCOW — World leaders struggled Wednesday to come to grips with a new reality — Donald Trump will be the next U. S. president — and an as yet unanswerable question: How many of his campaign pledges will he actually act on?
The remarkable triumph of the politically untested businessman was welcomed in some countries, such as Russia, while in others it was a major shock.
When Mr. Trump takes office in January, world leaders will confront a man whose stated views represent a sharp break with U. S. foreign policy orthodoxy. He has cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned stunned NATO allies they will have to pay for their own protection, floated a ban on Muslims entering the U. S. and vowed to make the Mexican government finance a multibillion-dollar border wall.
These changes, and others, are seen as having the potential to radically remake U. S. policy — a prospect that has given stability-loving partners a cascading case of the jitters.
Leaders from countries that are close allies of the U. S. — including British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel — congratulated Mr. Trump and reaffirmed their partnership to the U. S. They were joined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada — whose immigration site crashed on Tuesday night due to a surge in traffic — and Premier Matteo Renzi of Italy, which faces the anti-establishment whirlwind during a referendum on political overhaul scheduled for Dec. 4.
Canada’s ambassador to Washington, David MacNaughton, also said Wednesday that Canada is open to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement if that’s what Mr. Trump wants.
Mr. Trump’s victory was hailed in Russia, which has taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward the West in recent months. Mr. Putin sent Mr. Trump a congratulatory telegram Wednesday and made a televised statement expressing the hope that frayed U. S.-Russian relations could be put back on track.
“We are aware that it is a difficult path, in view of the unfortunate degradation of relations between the Russian Federation and the United States,” the Russian leader said, adding: “It is not our fault that Russian-American relations are in such a state.”
Russia became a focal point during the presidential campaign, with government officials and Hillary Clinton supporters suggesting Moscow was involved in hacking her campaign’s emails. Mr. Trump raised eyebrows when he expressed admiration for Mr.
