World Leaders Rush to Size Up Harris While Bracing for Trump Win

The sudden elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic front-runner injects fresh uncertainty into the US election for world leaders already grappling with the implications of Donald Trump’s potential return to the presidency.

It’s a measure of the foreboding over Trump that most foreign officials who spoke to Bloomberg viewed President Joe Biden’s exit from the race in terms of whether it improved the chances of defeating the Republican challenger. With varying degrees of frankness, they pinned hopes on Harris overtaking Trump in November’s election to become the US’s first woman president.

Kamala Harris, left, with leaders during the Ukraine peace meeting near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15.

Photographer: Michael Buholzer/AFP/Getty Images

Biden’s decision ...