Europe congratulates Trump, amid worries about his return to the White House

French President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders congratulated Donald Trump after he claimed victory in Tuesday's US presidential election, saying they were ready to work together but would defend Europe's interests.

Macron's message on X was not as enthusiastic as ones by Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and far-right leaders across Europe, who hurried to congratulate Trump early on Wednesday, even before he claimed victory.

A backdrop to the congratulatory words was a worry among many European leaders about the impact of a Trump return to the White House on the wider world. Given turbulent transatlantic relations in Trump's previous term, his past strong criticism of NATO, his ambivalent view of Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion and stance on climate change, many European officials had said ahead of the election they were worried about...