Jakarta. Former two-term president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo congratulated Donald Trump for winning the US election via his social media on Thursday, while hoping that his leadership could open up new cooperation opportunities with Indonesia.

Trump defeated the current US veep and the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Wednesday’s election that the world had been watching closely. Trump’s victory prompted world leaders -- including Jokowi’s successor Prabowo Subianto -- to send the businessman-turned-politician congratulatory messages. Jokowi, too, offered his congratulations.

“Dear President-Elect Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump: Congratulations on your election as President of the United States. I extend my best wishes for success in leading the nation and fostering progress and stability,” Jokowi wrote on the social media platform X.

“The longstanding friendship between Indonesia and the United States is built on shared values and mutual respect. I hope your leadership will bring new opportunities for cooperation that benefit both our nations and contribute to global peace and prosperity,” Jokowi said.

Trump secured over the required 270 electoral votes that he needed to return to the White House. The 78-year-old politician will take his oath of office as the US’ 47th president in January. 

This will be Trump’s second term after the ex-property tycoon led the country from 2017-2021. 

Trump also wrote a congratulatory letter when Jokowi got reelected in 2019.

In that letter, Trump congratulated Jokowi and the Indonesian people “for holding free, fair, and peaceful elections, and, for the first time, administering concurrent presidential and legislative polls."

Trump also told Jokowi at the time that Indonesia's democracy had significantly progressed over the past two decades.