Well, it's done. Donald Trump is now president-elect of the United States. Here's what our colleagues around the world make of the news, accompanied by images they chose to represent what it means to them.

As with every grieving process, the first reaction is disbelief. Then, denial, anger, depression, and finally—accepting that against all odds and a lot of polls, Donald John Trump is going to be the 45th president of the United States.

Thanks to Congress, the Supreme Court, his allies around the world, treaties, international organizations, and lobbyists, he'll soon find out that it was easier for him to be a candidate than a president. The government of the most powerful country on the planet cannot be run as a company or as a reality show. As president, he will not have the last and only word on the unlikely promises of his campaign—like building a wall between his country and ours.

I think it's likely that in four years, the world will see Trump as one of the most ineffective presidents the US have ever had—the showman who sold the world.
– Oscar Balderas, reporter for VICE News

What a fucking nightmare. First we get Brexit, now this. Is anyone taking the world seriously anymore? We have no idea what this means for Germany and Europe—and what makes this even scarier is that we're pretty sure Trump has no idea either.

Will he sell all of Eastern Europe to Putin in exchange for building permits for golf courses in the Tundra? Will he try to nuke every country where men on average have bigger hands than him? Should we all just elect populist xenophobic assholes, give up on cooperation, and have them just slug it out with one another until no one's left standing? If you think that sounds irrational, just stop and remember that Donald Trump was just elected as the world's most powerful human being.
– Matern Boeselager, VICE Germany

According to an online poll, the majority of Serbs in America voted for Trump to be the next president of the United States. So for us this is apparently the beginning of a happy new era. It's a great day for our nationalists, who openly urged the Serbian diaspora in the US to vote for Trump. They did so because in their opinion, Hillary was the mastermind behind her husband's launch of the NATO bombings of Serbia in 1999.

Others are happy with this outcome because they hope that First Lady Melania Trump will pay us a visit—she is, after all, originally from our former Yugoslav partner, Slovenia. There is one other group supporting Trump—left-wing intellectuals siding with Slavoj Žižek in thinking that Hillary is the preserver of an unbearable status quo, and things should be shaken up.
– Aleksandra Nicsik - News editor, VICE Serbia

It was bound to happen. First we lose our status as the happiest nation on Earth. Then our British brothers vote to bail on us and the rest of the European Union. And now America elects a dangerous cartoon character as president. The world has become a darker place, and nothing is beyond imagination anymore. Today's bad joke is tomorrow's reality. This also means that our chances of meeting nuclear oblivion could be considerably higher than our chances of ever winning a major soccer tournament again.

Hopefully, Trump is as bewildered as we are by him being elected, and he'll just withdraw to Trump Tower forever. Even Donald Trump has to admit that the world's most powerful job is probably best kept out of the reach of someone who tweets things like this.
– Lars Jellestad, Editor VICE Denmark

Well, we had a good run, didn't we? A century of economic growth, political stability, and the most amicable and meaningful relationship of any two nations in modern times. Not too shabby, eh? But, much like the hit legal dramedy Night Court (1984–1992), all good things must come to an end. So, too, must the bromance between Canada and America.

NAFTA, the unquestionably good deal that has driven down prices on virtually all consumer goods—that's gone. Russia will seize the high Canadian Arctic. Justin Bieber, still on his work visa, will be forced to renounce his Canadian passport or face deportation. Sure, the hordes of American emigrates coming across the Niagara Falls will aid the Canadian economy, with cultural celebrations livening up Little Pittsburg on July 1 and hoagie shops opening up on every other corner. But, ultimately, this is the end of a very special friendship.
- Justin Ling, VICE Canada

Wake up, open your eyes to a brave new world. You are Donald J. Trump, president of the United States of America. "I can do anything!" you say. "The immediate area around my eyes is fucking purple and white, and nobody even points it out! That's how much I can do! I can do anything!"

It's 3 AM, because that is the time you wake up. You gorge yourself on your usual breakfast of pale scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and two or three Big Macs blended to a paste. You close the unfastened buckle on your sleep trousers (you sleep, as you live, in a suit) and stumble downstairs. There are, like, 20 or 30 Secret Service agents there, in shades and with earpieces. "Mr. President, sir," they say, and sit you down in front of a reinforced-looking laptop. "We need to get you a login." You sit still for a second. "What's a login?" An agent steps forward. "For the presidential laptop, sir. We need a secure login." You don't know what a login is. Go through the Donald J. Trump decision-making flowchart:

ARE YOU DONALD J. TRUMP?
- NO – GO BACK TO SLEEP
- YES – GO TO NEXT QUESTION

IS THERE A SIMPLE CONCEPT HERE THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND?
- NO
- YES – GET MAD AT IT

The world outside shifts imperceptibly on its axis, while a new motion of right-wing violence takes seed, and, slowly, we edge ever nearer to apocalypse, because the World's Angriest Bro is now also the World's Most Powerful Man. That can't be good for anyone, but for now—because of you—we are all fixed on a timeline that you just know ends in smoking wastelands of shard-like skyscraper remains poking out of a desolate desert, of riots in the streets. But for now, you are Donald J. Trump, and you are angry that you have to think of a password. "FUCK," you type, thick fingers on a tiny hand, picking out each button one by one. "THIS."
– Joel Golby, staff writer VICE UK

The world seems a strange place this morning. Mostly thanks to the inescapable image of Donald Trump that's been all over our screens from the second we woke up—his face seemingly a shade more orange than usual.

This incredibly banal victory of a powerful, rich, aimless man charged with the illusion of superiority is a tragedy. Rhetoric has defeated logic, reason lost out to demagoguery. Now what?
– Dimitris Theodoropoulos, Managing Editor VICE Greece

I'm not entirely sure what's going on in this picture I chose to represent the state of the world now that Donald Trump is elected president. But frankly, I don't want to know. Much like how I don't really want to know what's happening in the world anymore.

Donald Trump was democratically elected as president of the United States, and Muse has threatened to make a hip-hop album. That's quite enough for me for now.
– Ewout Lowie, Editor VICE Netherlands

I don't know what to say. This is bleak and unexpected. I keep trying to think of some other clown president of the past, to figure out if this is normal. Reagan is the obvious one, Bush also has some crossover. But neither talked about nuclear weapons like Trump. Not even in the late 1950s—when the US military was using nukes to dig holes and considered blowing up the moon—were presidents referring to arms with such cavalier disconnect.

And that's the sticking point. A bad leader can sink an economy and trash social order, but a special kind of bad leader can start a war.
– Julian Morgans, VICE Australia

According to the Centre for Public Opinion, 74 percent of Poles thought this US presidential election was "quite important" or "very important," making it basically the first election that Polish people cared about (the turnout at our own election is about half of that percentage). Only 6 percent thought it would be better for Poland if Trump won, with 57 percent rooting for Clinton.

Given that we don't know how eager Trump is to push that big red button, it could be wise to ask our parents for advice on how to deal with radioactive clouds. For now, though, we'll comfort ourself by living life as usual: Eat sausage, drink vodka, and nostalgically listen to Disco Polo songs about freedom.

- Maciek Piasecki, Editor VICE Poland

This wasn't supposed to happen. It's not just me thinking that—I don't really believe Trump himself wanted this to happen. I can't imagine he ever meant for us to take him seriously, because his campaign seemed like just one big cry for help.

What is he supposed to do now? Actually build a wall with the Mexican border? Defeat ISIS, ban Muslims from the United States, put Hillary Clinton in jail—all without any sort of actual plan? This really wasn't supposed to happen.
– Flavia Guidi, Junior Editor VICE Italy

The state of the world now that Trump has been elected POTUS, according to VICE New Zealand. Image via

It's a lesson in perspective. Because from here it seemed no sane, functioning population could allow a man who ran a campaign on bullying, lies, such LIES, and incompetence get to the top. But then he's a man and she's a woman, and as a woman I feel that's particularly shocking. Because waking up today, despite all the progress we thought we'd made, it feels like a man who dominates through one-eyed ego is valued higher than a woman's skill and experience.

The world has looked to the States but now it feels we're going to turn our faces away. And the idea of universal values is in decline. It feels like a turning point, and where we're heading is dark. I'm expecting to meet a lot more Americans here soon.
- Frances Morton, Editor VICE New Zealand

To be honest, I feel that Donald Trump being elected the next president of the United States is less of a surprise than it should have been. The fact that he was a candidate in the first place was a fair warning that America has lost its mind.

However, I can imagine that this election won't change much in the end. Most of Trump's promises are too grotesque to actually be realized. But it will likely inspire more pompous, sexist douchebags around the world to run for president—and probably win.
– Julie Le Baron, Editor, VICE France