From Iceland — Icelandic Politicians With Mixed Reactions To Trump Victory

Icelandic Politicians With Mixed Reactions To Trump Victory

Published November 9, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
David Maiolo/Wikimedia Commons

Numerous Icelandic politicians have chimed in on the results of last night’s US presidential election, and their feelings are far from unanimous.

Iceland’s Prime Minister, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, told RÚV that he has already sent his congratulations to President Trump, and that the election of Trump does not especially worry him, adding that “I expect the relationship between our countries to be as good as before.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir took a less neutral stance, saying the results were a “defeat for women”, as many American women were hoping to elect the first female president.

Members of opposition parties took a more opposing position. Former Social Democrat chair Oddný Harðardóttir said she cried when she learned of Trump’s victory, while Left-Green chairperson Katrín Jakobsdóttir said that the results reflect “dissatisfaction with the system”, with the result that politics have moved to the right.

Relations between the US and Iceland are good, and both countries are in NATO, so a political rift between the two countries over these elections is still unlikely at this point.

More reactions are likely to come in over the course of the day.

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