Who are Donald Trump's 'kindred spirits' in Europe?

DW News · Feb 19, 2026 · Collected from RSS

Full Article

Immediately after the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Slovakia and then Hungary. This is no coincidence, as both countries are governed by prime ministers who are very much to the liking of President Donald Trump: they are skeptical of the European Union, hostile to immigration and not concerned about climate change. In the past, the Trump administration has also lent its support to other right-wing and far-right governments and parties in Europe. Some distanced themselves after his threat to take control of the island of Greenland by force. Hungary: Viktor Orban is a kindred spirit Viktor Orban has been in office since 2015 and was already in power during Trump's first term (2017-2021). He sees him as a kindred spirit and in the past even referred to him as a "twin" brother. While Trump's predecessor Joe Biden said that Orban was "looking for dictatorship," the current US president has called him a "true friend, fighter and winner." He and his Rubio have currently thrown their weight behind him ahead of the parliamentary elections in April, which Orban is in danger of losing. AfD leader Alice Weidel is shunned by centrist parties in Germany, but in Hungary she is warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Orban, as seen here in February 2025Image: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty ImagesOrban has supported Trump's plans to reduce or even stop US military aid to Ukraine, in contrast to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He has also refused to criticize Russia's war in Ukraine and has no qualms about meeting President Vladimir Putin. The Hungarian prime minister is an outsider in the European Union (EU). He has a good relationship with Germany's far-right AfD party, whose leader Alice Weidel he hosted last year. In his speech, he called her "the future of Germany." Regarding the dispute over Greenland, Orban has avoided criticizing Trump directly and said that the problem should be resolved within NATO. Slovakia: Prime Minster Fico is a contradictory figure Rubio expressed similar sentiments about Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico after the Munich Security Conference. Speaking in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, the US Secretary of State said: "We are going to show in the weeks and months and years to come that under President Trump this administration is going to make not just Slovakia but Central Europe a key component of how we engage the continent and the world." He did not provide more details. Trump sees Fico as one of his most important partners in Europe alongside Orban. The Slovakian prime minister is particularly anti-immigration and in 2016 said that "Islam has no place in Slovakia." In 2023, he said that his country would "no longer supply weapons to Ukraine" and in 2024 he said there were military units in Ukraine that were clearly linked to "Nazi and fascist movements."US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) boosted Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's standing with his visit in FebruaryImage: Alex Brandon/REUTERS But Fico's approach towards the United States has been contradictory. During his first term (2006 to 2010), he established close ties with Russia, China, Venezuela and Cuba. In late January, an article in the magazine Politico drew attention when it reported that some unnamed European diplomats had said Fico had expressed concern about the president's "psychological state" on the sidelines of a summit in Brussels. Fico and the White House both rejected the report as "lies" and "fake news." Germany: AfD leader Alice Weidel gets a boost At the Munich Security Conference last year, US Vice President JD Vance accused the EU of suppressing free speech and blamed the bloc for mass migration, which he said European voters did not want. Then, in a further provocation, he met AfD leader Alice Weidel, who had not been invited to Munich and at the same time ignored Olaf Scholz who was chancellor at the time. The meeting contributed to boosting the image of the far-right party, which Germany's mainstream parties all say they want nothing to do with.At an AfD event in January 2025, Alice Weidel spoke via video with Trump's then-close advisor Elon Musk, who has described the party as “the last spark of hope” for GermanyImage: AFP Weidel and Trump share an anti-migration stance, as well as the belief that climate change is not caused by humans. Both have championed the idea of the nation. Regarding the war in Ukraine, they are both willing to make concessions for a peace that Russia, which started the war, would agree to, rather than Ukraine. But when it comes to Greenland, their views converge and since Trump threatened to take control of the territory of a NATO member state, the AfD has taken its distance from the US president, at least in words.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the intermediary Giorgia Meloni is not only the head of the Brothers of Italy, which is often described as a post-fascist party, but also the first woman to lead an Italian government. In ideological terms, she is close to Trump and in the past she sought his support, to the dismay of most other European leaders. As the leader of the third-largest economy in the EU after Germany and France, she has played a mediating role in conflicts between the bloc and the US.Donald Trump gave Giorgia Meloni a warm welcome at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida shortly after his election victoryImage: Italian Government/Handout/REUTERS And there are many such conflicts. Regarding Trump's tariff threats, Meloni has been able to exert some influence. She has also offered to mediate regarding the Greenland dispute. Though she can only play a limited role, she is taken seriously in both Brussels and in Washington. In January, she said that the US president's threat to impose new sanctions over Greenland would be a "mistake." She also told journalists that "I disagree with Trump on many things. […] When I disagree with him, I tell him." Ukraine is one of the issues that they disagree on. Meloni has always shown her support for the country since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. UK: Reform leader Nigel Farage is Trump's hope According to most polls, if there were elections in Britain today the right-wing populist party Reform UK would win and its leader Nigel Farage would become prime minister. The populist played a major role in forcing the Conservative government of the time to propose a referendum asking voters in Britain whether the country should leave the European Union, and later founded the Brexit Party to push through the UK's withdrawal. Even before Trump became president, he said that Britain would be "better off" without the EU. The two men are close allies. Farage attended an exclusive party at Trump's Florida resort Mar-a-Lago in November 2024. But he too has said that Trump's threats to impose tariffs if he were not allowed "take over Greenland" was a "hostile act."Nigel Farage uses his socks to express his desire to make Britain great again, but he is also an enthusiastic ally of Donald TrumpImage: Phil Noble/REUTERS For tech billionaire Elon Musk, Farage was not radical enough for a while. Last year, he dropped the Reform leader in favor of far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson. He even suggested that Reform replace Farage as leader. Now, though, they seem to be reconciled. Poland: President Karol Nawrocki must be disappointed Poland's right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) has a lot in common with the Trump administration. During its terms in office (2005 – 2007 and 2015 – 2023), it championed law and order, anti-immigration policies, skepticism towards the EU. It was also close to the US. Furthermore, Poland is the NATO member state, which spends the highest proportion of its GDP on defense, even more than the US. Though the country is now run by the liberal and EU-friendly Prime Minister Donald Tusk, it is President Karol Nawrocki from the PiS party, who Trump hosted demonstratively at the White House.Nawrocki and Trump watched a military flyover in Washington together in September 2025, but now Nawrocki has to question the value of American security guaranteesImage: Aaron Schwartz/ABACAPRESS/IMAGO But now the president must be disappointed by Trump, the more doubt his US counterpart sows as to whether the US would be prepared to defend NATO member states such as Poland in case of a Russian attack, even if he has not expressed any criticism openly. Nor has Trump's Russia-friendly attitude gone down well in Poland, one of Ukraine's closest allies. France: National Rally's leader keeps a distance French President Emmanuel Macron likes to give the impression that France does not need to bow to any ally's will. This also goes for former National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who would like to become the country's next president. In 2016, she described Trump's election victory as "good news" for France and supported his focus on national sovereignty, the fight against globalization and his restrictive immigration policies. But she was less vocal after his second victory. In 2025, she said that his decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine was "cruel." In the past few years, Le Pen has watered down her policies to be more attractive to a larger part of voters in France.Marine Le Pen enjoys meeting with other right-wing European politicians, such as Geert Wilders (right) from the Netherlands and Viktor Orban (second from left) from Hungary, at an event in Madrid in 2025, but she keeps her distance from Donald TrumpImage: Thomas Coex/AFP It is not clear whether she will even be able to run in the 2027 presidential elections because of a pending court case but her party's alternative candidate, leader Jordan Bardella, has been similarly cautious regarding Trump. He has criticized his stance on Greenland, and in 2024 he said Trump's reelection was "good news for America, but bad news for France and Europe." Earlier this year, he said that Trump was not h