Dutch PM Schoof, Wilders congratulate Trump on claimed U.S. election victory

Prime Minister Dick Schoof and PVV leader Geert Wilders have congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the American presidential elections. The right-wing channel Fox News has declared Trump the winner, the only one so far. Now that Trump seems to be the president of the United States again, Europe must quickly ensure its own security, said CDA defense specialist Derk Boswijk.

"Congratulations to Donald Trump on winning the presidential election," Schoof wrote on X. "The United States is an important ally for the Netherlands, both bilaterally and in international contexts such as NATO. I look forward to our close cooperation on the shared interests between the USA and the Netherlands."

Trump needs 270 votes in the Electoral College to actually win the presidency. According to the Associated Press, the count currently stands at 267 for Trump and 224 for Kamala Harris.

Harris’ chances are slim, based on the AP projections for each state. Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, would only need the three votes up for grabs in Alaska, while Harris and Tim Walz would need to sweep Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

Additionally, states do not have to report official vote tallies right away. Each state can set its own deadlines, and many still have outstanding in-person and mail-in ballots to count.

But the question remains if Harris and the Democratic Party intend to challenge results in any given region. That said, closing the gap in key battleground states could still be exceedingly difficult.

The leader of the largest Dutch party considers this close enough for a Trump win. He also congratulated the United States on Trump’s claimed victory, writing on X. “Never stop, always keep fighting and winning elections,” Wilders said. “Congratulations President Trump! Congratulations America!”

Wilders said on Tuesday that, if he lived in the U.S., he would have voted for the Republican. Even though he behaves “a bit rudely now and then, I’ll admit that.” The PVV leader nevertheless sees Trump as a kindred spirit. Other PVV parliamentarians also celebrated on X.

Far-right FvD also congratulated Trump. The party shared a poster on X showing Trump and his former advisor Steve Bannon, among others. “The future looks bright,” wrote FvD leader Thierry Baudet.

It is really time for Europe to focus on becoming Trump-proof, CDA MP Derk Boswijk said. According to the CDA defense specialist, the Netherlands and Europe can no longer count on the U.S. dedication to NATO and aid to Ukraine. “We know what we have to do,” Boswijk said, adding that there is “no time to lose” in donating frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

Isa Kahraman (NSC) hopes that former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte can offer some help. “Rutte is now our Secretary General of NATO,” he said at an election meeting in The Hague. “He is also a pragmatic person. I think he can wheel and deal with Trump reasonably well.” According to Kahraman, Europe and America need each other, and Rutte can convince Trump of that.