Donald Trump’s foreign allies, from Hungary’s Viktor Orban to Britain’s Nigel Farage, rallied to his defence saying his trial was politically motivated, while others reacted cautiously, aware they may have to work with him as president again soon. ...

Trump himself has offered few clues about what kind of foreign policy he would pursue next time around, beyond broad claims like ending the Ukraine war in 24 hours or saying he would not want to protect NATO members from a future attack by Russia if those countries’ contributions to the defence alliance were lagging – which worried traditional allies.

Possibly with that backdrop in mind and with sentencing and a likely appeal by Trump yet to come, many in Europe and elsewhere simply did not react publicly after the New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star.