Donald Trump’s unprecedented victory in the US elections has sent shockwaves across the globe. In a first reaction, the German political establishment received the news with sense of “panic”, with Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen stating the developments in the US elections were “a huge shock”. Speaking to German television station “ARD” she said she believed Trump knew that the “vote was not one in his favour, but rather a vote against the Washington establishment”. Norbert Rottgen of the Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democratic party (CDU) said the “phraseology and manners of Donald Trump is a bizarre legacy, which he cannot easily shed…I believe that we must take him as he has presented himself to us.” He added that no one knew what Trump will do as US President in a very volatile geopolitical situation. The head of “Die Linke” party, Bernd Riexinger warned that Trumop would move towards adopting “an authoritarian society”.