Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who last year stripped Mr Trump of his role as a business ambassador for Scotland, congratulated him on his victory, but said the result was “not the outcome I hoped for” and would cause “a real sense of anxiety” among many people around the world.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – who once quipped that the only reason he would not visit parts of New York was the risk of bumping into Mr Trump – released a statement to say: “Congratulations to Donald Trump and much looking forward to working with his administration on global stability and prosperity.
“I believe passionately in the importance of the UK-US relationship and am confident we can take it forward together.”
Leaders across the world have also shared their thoughts on Mr Trump’s success with many expressing a hope that the appointment will lead to good relations between nations.
Here are some of the key reactions…
UK
Prime Minister Theresa May said the two countries will remain “strong and close partners on trade, security and defence”.
In a statement, Mrs May said Mr Trump had won after “a hard-fought campaign”.
Mrs May, who took office after British voters delivered a shock to the establishment by deciding to leave the European Union, declined to comment on rival candidates Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton while the US race was on.
On Wednesday, she stressed the enduring trans-Atlantic “special relationship, based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise”.
“I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead,” Mrs May said.
RUSSIA
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready to try to restore good relations with the United States in the wake of Mr Trump’s election.
Mr Putin said at a ceremony accepting the credentials of new ambassadors: “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.”
Mr Putin said: “It is not our fault that Russian-American relations are in such a state.”
Earlier, the Kremlin said Mr Putin sent Mr Trump a telegram of congratulations, expressing “his hope to work together for removing Russian-American relations from their crisis state”.
Mr Putin also said ties between Moscow and Washington must be “based on principles of equality, mutual respect and a real accounting of each other’s positions”.
GERMANY
German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Mr Trump “close co-operation” on the basis of shared trans-Atlantic values that she says include respect for human dignity regardless of people’s origin, gender or religion.
Mrs Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the campaign which ended in Mr Trump’s victory featured “confrontations that were difficult to bear”.
Mrs Merkel stressed Germany’s close historical connection with the United States. She said: “Germany and America are connected by values: democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views.”
She added: “On the basis of these values, I am offering the future president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, close co-operation.”
She said the partnership with the US “is a foundation stone of German foreign policy.”
VATICAN
The Vatican’s first reaction to the election of Mr Trump has focused on its wish for global peace.
Pope Francis did not mention the US elections during his Wednesday audience, but secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, offered Mr Trump congratulations in a statement to Vatican Radio that “his government can be truly fruitful”.
He added the Vatican offered its prayers “that the Lord illuminates and sustains him in service of his country, naturally, but also in service of the well-being and peace of the world”.
He concluded by noting “there is need for everyone to work to change the global situation, which is in a situation of severe lacerations and great conflict”.
EUROPEAN UNION
EU leaders invited Mr Trump to visit the 28-nation bloc to assess trans-Atlantic ties.
With “sincere congratulations”, EU Council President Donald Tusk and his Commission counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker said that, despite Trump’s campaign talk of protectionism and isolationism, both sides “should consolidate the bridges we have been building across the Atlantic.”
Tusk famously quoted his wife during the U.S. election campaign, saying that “One Donald is more than enough.!”
After Wednesday’s shock election result, Tusk and Juncker said that “it is more important than ever to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.”
That is why they invited Trumpt to come over for a visit “at your earliest convenience.”
MEXICO
“It’s DEFCON 2,” said Mexican analyst Alejandro Hope. “Probably something as close to a national emergency as Mexico has faced in many decades.
“It depends if he means what he says and if he can do what he claims he wants to do. A massive deportation campaign could really put some stress on Mexican border communities.
“A renegotiation of Nafta (North American Free Trade Agreement) could seriously hobble the Mexican economy. It could create a lot of uncertainty. Financial markets could suffer.”
CHINA
Chinese state media outlets cast the US election as the embodiment of America’s democracy in crisis, in contrast to China’s perceived stability under authoritarian rule.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency said the campaign had highlighted that “the majority of Americans are rebelling against the US’s political class and financial elites”.
The official Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said the presidential election had revealed an “ill democracy”.
But some Chinese participants at a US Embassy event in Beijing welcomed a Trump presidency.
Blogger Wang Yiming said the Republican Party has been more willing to demonstrate American leadership globally, and he hoped a Republican president would do more to encourage freedom of speech in China.
FRANCE
Populist anti-immigrant politician Marine Le Pen, who is hoping to ride France’s own anti-establishment sentiment to victory in spring presidential elections, tweeted her support to the “American people, free!”.
Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault expressed concern about Mr Trump and said: “We don’t want a world where egoism triumphs.”
France’s Socialist government had openly endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Mr Ayrault said European politicians should pay attention to the message from Trump voters. “There is a part of our electorate that feels … abandoned,” including people who feel “left behind” by globalisation, he said.
ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Mr Trump a “true friend of the State of Israel”.
Mr Netanyahu said he believes the two leaders “will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between our two countries and bring it to ever greater heights”.
Earlier, a key ally in Mr Netanyahu’s centre-right coalition, education minister Naftali Bennett, said Mr Tump’s victory means that “the era of a Palestinian state is over”. The Palestinians want a state in lands Israel captured in 1967.
Mr Netanyahu has said he is willing to negotiate a border deal, but has retracted offers made by his predecessors while pressing ahead with Jewish settlement expansion on war-won land.
