French, German leaders vow ‘stronger European unity’ as Trump claims victory

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have pledged to strengthen European unity after Donald Trump's projected victory in the US presidential election.

In a statement on Twitter, Macron said he and Scholz discussed the election results during a phone call Wednesday morning.

"We will work for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context. By cooperating with the United States of America and defending our interests and values," Macron said.

The leaders' response follows Trump's declaration of victory in the presidential election, though official results are still pending.

According to The Associated Press, Trump has garnered 267 Electoral College votes, just shy of the 270 needed to win. Fox News has already declared him the victor, though the official result is still pending.

Trump's potential return to the White House would mark a significant shift in US leadership and potentially in US-European relations. During his previous term, Trump publicly criticized European NATO allies for not meeting the alliance's defense spending target of 2% of GDP.

He argued that the US was shouldering an unfair burden of NATO's costs and threatened to withdraw from the alliance if other members did not increase their contributions.