President Donald Trump trashes so many norms that it’s easy to overlook how outlandish some of his actions are. Take his habit of formally endorsing candidates in other countries’ elections. Previous presidents occasionally made their preferences plain, often to their subsequent regret: Bill Clinton was supportive of Boris Yeltsin in Russia’s 1996 election and Barack Obama was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s 2015 election. But seldom, if ever, have presidents interjected themselves as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
Earlier this month, Trump offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to both Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (“a strong, powerful, and wise Leader”) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also “a truly strong and powerful Leader” (but perhaps not wise?). Conversely, he has demanded that Iraqi lawmakers not select Nouri al-Maliki, who is considered close to Iran, as prime minister.
Last year, Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura in Honduras’s presidential election and Javier Milei in Argentina’s election. In the latter case, Trump made clear that Argentina would receive a $20 billion bailout only if Milei won. Previous foreign leaders who have received Trump’s electoral blessing include Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Karol Nawrocki in Poland and Giuseppe Conte in Italy.
In the case of Bolsonaro and Netanyahu, Trump has gone further by pressuring their countries to end judicial proceedings against both men: Bolsonaro was convicted of inciting a military coup and Netanyahu is on trial for alleged corruption. In an unsuccessful attempt to force Brazil’s judiciary to free Bolsonaro, Trump even imposed 50 percent tariffs on that country.
Trump may take satisfaction from the fact that many of the leaders he endorsed won (Bolsonaro and Conte are the exceptions), although whether his support had much to do with it is often open to question.
So what’s the problem? First, these endorsements reflect Trump’s unfortunate habit of personalizing relations with other countries: He rewards leaders he likes and punishes those he dislikes. He has bragged that he hiked tariffs on Switzerland last year, because, referring to that country’s then-president, Karin Keller-Sutter, “I didn’t really like the way she talked to us.” That’s hardly a good reason to raise the cost of Swiss goods for American consumers. (Trump subsequently lowered the rates after a new Swiss president took office.)
Naturally, the leaders Trump likes best are those who flatter him and imitate him the most: He has referred to Bolsonaro as the “Tropical Trump” and Johnson as the “Britain Trump.” But just because Trump likes certain leaders doesn’t mean that their rule is in the U.S. interest. Orban, for example, is not just an authoritarian leader; he is also close to both Russia and China and hostile to Ukraine. The Western alliance would benefit from his defeat in April. The problem is that Trump is pursuing his personal political agenda, not the agenda of the United States as traditionally understood by presidents of both parties.
By aligning the U.S. with individual leaders, Trump also risks making an enemy of the political opposition in their countries — and thereby inviting a backlash. This has already happened in Canada. Last year, Trump all but endorsed Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in a bizarre social media post implying that Poilievre (whom he did not mention by name) would help to make Canada the 51st state and thereby see a lifting of U.S. tariffs. An appalled Poilievre told Trump to “stay out of our election,” but the damage was done: Liberal Party leader Mark Carney won in a landslide.
Now Trump is inviting a similar backlash in Europe, where he has become toxic with his tariffs, his attacks on European digital regulations and immigration policies, his attempt to take over Greenland, and his insults about European soldiers supposedly shirking combat in Afghanistan. A poll released last month by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that only 16 percent of Europeans now consider the U.S. an ally. In Denmark, 84 percent have an unfavorable view of the United States. Vice President JD Vance was booed at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Milan, even though Italy has a Trump-friendly prime minister.
That’s a problem for Trump, because he and his aides appear eager to promote far-right movements in Europe. As the Financial Times first reported, the State Department is making plans to fund right-wing think tanks and political groups in Europe under the rubric of promoting “free speech.” (This, of course, comes after the Trump Justice Department tried to indict six members of Congress for exercising their free speech rights.)
No doubt some European organizations will be happy to accept U.S. funding, but it is unlikely to do the European far right much good to be associated with a U.S. president who is so widely reviled. A Politico poll in December found that in France and Germany, only a third of the people who support right-wing parties have a favorable view of Trump.
Little wonder that far-right leaders in Europe denounced Trump’s attempted takeover of Greenland and sought to distance themselves from the American leader. Tino Chrupalla of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) criticized Trump’s “Wild West methods”; Jordan Bardella of France’s National Rally said that Trump’s “threats against the sovereignty of a state” were “intolerable”; and Nigel Farage of Reform UK called Trump’s tariff threats “a very hostile act.” These are the European politicians you would expect to be the most pro-Trump, but they don’t want to be seen as American puppets.
A president who zealously guards America’s sovereignty should show more respect for the sovereignty of other countries. Trump should stop treating foreign elections as if they were Republican Party primaries, where he can dictate the outcome (often to the detriment of the party’s general election prospects). Instead, he would do well to heed Lord Palmerston’s timeless dictum: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”
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