In his speech marking his election win, President-elect Donald Trump hailed a new \u201cgolden age of America\u201d and claimed to have pulled off the \u201cgreatest political movement of all time.\u201d <\/p>\n
The president-elect and his camp celebrated the Republican\u2019s political comeback as a triumph against \u201cwokeism,\u201d liberal immigration and other Biden-era policies. <\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s far-right is taking notes. <\/p>\n
Many of Europe\u2019s populists are hoping that the return of Trump \u2013 a transatlantic ally who promotes the same conservative Christian values and shares the same disdain for progressive politics \u2013 will help to serve their interests back home and further normalize their anti-immigrant, nation-first rhetoric. <\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations President Trump\u2026 Never stop, always keep fighting and win elections,\u201d Geert Wilders, the populist leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), wrote on X <\/strong>on November 6. <\/p>\n Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel also offered her congratulations and declared that it was not \u201cwoke Hollywood\u201d but rather the \u201cworking American people\u201d that decided the election. <\/p>\n For Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n, of the Fidesz party, it was a \u201cmuch needed victory for the world.\u201d <\/p>\n However, <\/strong>Armida van Rij, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, stresses the importance of not viewing far-right parties in Europe as one homogenous group. Yet, there are common overlapping themes among Europe\u2019s populists that are also present in Trump\u2019s playbook. <\/p>\n Van Rij points to the \u201canti-woke, traditional values, anti-green transition and the anti-migration agenda.\u201d <\/p>\n Europe\u2019s Green Deal has faced backlash from far-right groups who want to weaken climate legislation or ignore climate action entirely. Similarly, Trump has promised to take a wrecking ball to virtually all of President Joe Biden\u2019s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels. <\/p>\n This sentiment is clear when looking at the language employed by the far-right; In Austria, provocative anti-migration slogans such as \u201chomeland love instead of Moroccan thieves\u201d are the norm for the Freedom Party (FP\u00d6). In Germany, anti-Islam sentiment has been palpable in AfD posters with the tagline \u201cBurkas? We prefer bikinis.\u201d <\/p>\n Such rhetoric seems shocking to many who read it. But, according to analysis from the Center for European Reform, a London-based thinktank focused on European integration, Trump will strengthen Europe\u2019s far-right by \u201cnormalizing and amplifying\u201d their ideas. Trump himself has employed controversial rhetoric while vocalizing his hardline views on immigration, calling the US a \u201cgarbage can for the world.\u201d <\/p>\n One far-right leader who on the surface looks set to benefit from a Trump presidency is Hungary\u2019s long-standing leader, Viktor Orb\u00e1n. He has been among the most prominent of Europe\u2019s populists voicing his support for Trump and even said he toasted to his election victory with vodka, according to the Agence France-Presse. <\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s closest ally in Europe, Orb\u00e1n has been ostracized by the bloc for his introduction of anti-LQBTQ laws, his increasingly authoritarian rule in his home country and his soft approach to Russia. While provoking the ire of his European peers, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s relationship with Trump appears positive, with Orb\u00e1n endorsing his presidency, and Trump touting the prime minister\u2019s backing. <\/p>\n Van Rij believes that with Trump in power in the US, Orb\u00e1n could \u201cfeel further emboldened to put aside any rule of law concerns, whether that\u2019s domestically or within an EU context,\u201d reasoning that \u201cif Trump can do that, why should anyone follow rule of law.\u201d Trump earlier this week had his last remaining federal criminal case, relating to illegally retained classified documents as well as charges related to election subversion, dismissed by a US court. <\/p>\n With Trump in the White House, Orb\u00e1n and other populist European leaders who have a softer approach to Russia could feel emboldened in their calls to end the war in Ukraine. In Romania, far-right populist Calin Georgescu who has risen to prominence and is set to face a center-right opposition leader in a presidential election runoff, in 2022 described Putin as a \u201cman who loved his country.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump has been vocal in his goal to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, even claiming in July that he could settle the conflict in one day. He has also been accused of cozying up to dictators, including Putin. <\/p>\n \u201cAs we know, any kind of peace agreement on Putin\u2019s terms would be terrible for Ukraine and terrible for European security,\u201d Van Rij stresses. <\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s reelection purely underscores all of that.\u201d <\/p>\n Overall, Van Rij sees \u201ca lot of convergence in thinking\u201d between Trump and some of Europe\u2019s populist parties. <\/p>\n But, despite the fanfare with which Trump\u2019s reelection was met with, surface-level similarities may soon reveal underlying key conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a contradiction between (populists) feeling like they\u2019ve got their man in the White House, versus the actual implications for their countries of his policies,\u201d Van Rij believes. <\/p>\n She points to economic policy as a prominent example. <\/p>\n The president-elect\u2019s promise of an America First trade policy has the EU bloc on a knife edge. And the fallout could hit populist leaders hoping to gain power in Europe. <\/p>\n France\u2019s Marine Le Pen, who leads the populist National Rally (RN) party, offered a more muted response to Trump\u2019s election win \u2013 perhaps an indication of a populist leader showing early signs of concern. <\/p>\n Data from Eurostat shows that France was the fourth-largest EU exporter of goods to the United States in 2023. Van Rij says France would therefore be disproportionately hard-hit by Trump\u2019s America First trade policy. Further, Le Pen, whose party holds a large number of seats in parliament, might be concerned that any trade tariffs on Europe could impact her campaign for the French presidency. <\/p>\n Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations, also sees why Le Pen could be concerned about her chances of gaining power. <\/p>\n Earlier this month, French prosecutors asked for prison time and a five-year ban from politics for Le Pen, potentially derailing her bid to become president in 2027. <\/p>\n There is also reason to believe that Orb\u00e1n\u2019s celebrations are premature. The Hungarian leader\u2019s strong business ties with China\u2019s Xi Jinping could prove to be a major sticking point. Hungary has successfully attracted Chinese foreign investment to the country, and the close relationship is already causing concern among some Republicans. <\/p>\n \u201cChina is seen as arch enemy number one by some in the Republican party, and Trump shares that view,\u201d Van Rij says. \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting contradiction and something Orb\u00e1n will have to face and reckon with at some point. I think the US will try to force Orb\u00e1n in one direction or the other. Orb\u00e1n won\u2019t like that because he likes being able to place different bets.\u201d <\/p>\n Similarly, Fix sees Orb\u00e1n running into difficulties with trying to \u201ccourt\u201d Trump and Xi at the same time. <\/p>\n Fix says that while a Trump win \u201cdefinitely emboldens European populists and inoculates them against criticism from Brussels,\u201d we must not forget that \u201cEuropean populists are divided amongst each other – Le Pen does not get along with (Italian Prime Minister Giorgia) Meloni, for example, and no one gets along with the AfD.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe diversity of Europe\u2019s populists will be the greatest challenge to benefiting from the warm air of historical righteousness coming from DC,\u201d Fix believes. <\/p>\n \u201cOf course, all populists parties share the migration topic, and the anti-left rhetoric. But on economic policy? Big divergences between Trump and Le Pen. Foreign policy? Meloni has been a Ukraine supporter. Trump not. <\/p>\n \u201cThe closer you zoom in, the more nuanced it becomes.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his speech marking his election win, President-elect Donald Trump hailed a new \u201cgolden age of America\u201d and claimed to have pulled off the \u201cgreatest political movement of all time.\u201d The president-elect and his camp celebrated the Republican\u2019s political comeback as a triumph against \u201cwokeism,\u201d liberal immigration and other Biden-era policies. Europe\u2019s far-right is taking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} \u2018Normalizing and amplifying ideas\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Warm air of historical righteousness\u2019<\/h2>\n