Trump will change politics forever: Wilders

PVV leader Geert Wilders thinks that Donald Trump's "historic victory" will change the way politics work forever. "Politics will never be the same, take it from me", he said to NOS.

Wilders believes that voters in the Netherlands and Europe will also now speak out against the political establishement - the more people who feel ignored and pressed into a corner, the more they are inclined to vote PVV, he said. "Despite the opposition of the political establishment and the media, Trump achieved a resounding victory. People want to be patriots and there is nothing wrong with that", Wilders said to NOS. "My message is: look it's possible."

The other party leaders are much less enthusiastic. The vast majority of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, would have preferred a Hillary Clinton victory.

D66 leader Alexander Pechtold is very negative about the situation. "It is a terrible conclusion, but the message of division wins today. A man who from day one in his campaign insulted people with disabilities, women, Latinos and many other peole, wins today", he said after it became clear that Trump would take the election, the Telegraaf reports. "This is very, very bad news for the Netherlands and Europe. Trump turned against NATO and no longer wants to give Europe military support as all the previous presidents did since the mid-20th century. In addition, Trump advocated a different course towards Russia in his campaign. Economically this is a major setback. In the short term because of the increasing uncertainty in the world, in the long term because Trump emphatically turns against free trade and that goes very much against the intersts of the Netherlands as export country."

PvdA leader Diederik Samsom believes that Trump's victory shows that Dutch politicians urgently need to give an answer to the growing sence among more and more people that they are missing out on progress. "Otherwise you'll get these kind of results here too", he said according to RTL Nieuws.

SP leader Emile Roemer feels the political elite created a massive gap between themselves and the population. "You saw it at the Brexit in England, with the Ukraine referendum in the Netherlands and now you see it in America. People want to get rid of it."

CDA leader Sybrand Buma agrees taht the Netherlands has many of the same concerns American voters have. "The signal the American voter gave, is certainly a signal that also exists in the Netherlands: great concerns about globalization and big changes."

GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver worries that in the Netherlands "populists will rise and seize the election". According to RTL, Klaver only has one thing to say to Wilders. "Forget it. We will not let this country be pulled apart."

Both Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of continuing cooperation between the Netherlands and the United States, especially in dealing with global problems like climate change and the fight against terrorism.