Dalai Lama Has 'No Worries' About Trump Election

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said Wednesday he has "no worries" about Donald Trump's election as US president, adding that he expects the businessman will align his future policies with global realities. Commenting at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Mongolia, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism said he looks forward to seeing Trump at some point following the Jan. 20 inauguration, the AP reports. It was not immediately clear if a meeting between the two has been planned. Such meetings usually draw protests from Beijing, which accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to split Tibet from China.

The 81-year-old monk said he has always regarded the US as the leader of the "free world" and wasn't concerned about remarks made by Trump during the election campaign. "I feel during the election, the candidate has more freedom to express. Now once they [are] elected, having the responsibility, then they have to carry their cooperation, their work, according [to] reality," he told reporters. "So I have no worries." China had demanded Mongolia scrap his visit for the sake of the "general picture of a sound and steady development of bilateral ties," though the Dalai Lama said the visit had no political purpose. (More Donald Trump stories.)