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Why Europe's far right is turning away from Trump · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Far-right parties in Europe are shifting away from Donald Trump's
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: MAGA movement. Why? And how? And what does it all mean?
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: It used to be all this.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Far-right parties across Europe used to show.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Off their good relations with Donald.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: Trump and his MAGA movement.
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  Speaker 4: They even borrowed their slogan.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: It made them look important, part of a global movement,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and the thinking was it might boost their election results.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Trump wanted this too. The White House openly said so
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: in its 2025 national security strategy. But halfway into Trump's
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: second term, this transatlantic far-right friendship seems to be cooling.
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: He's different.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: He's a threat to Europe.
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: He broke an elementary election promise, not to interfere in
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  Speaker 5: other states.
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  Speaker 4: Donald Trump's declarations are totally fabricated.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: As we approach several key European elections, let's take a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: closer look at what's been going on and what could
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: be next for the far right in Germany, France and Italy.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: But first, let's go to Hungary, where one of the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: leading figures of the European far right suffered a shock
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  Speaker 1: election defeat, despite massive backing from MAGA. This was Budapest
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  Speaker 1: on the night of April 12, 2026. Viktor Orbán admits
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  Speaker 1: what had seemed impossible. He had lost the election. Orbán
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  Speaker 1: had been prime minister of Hungary for 16 years straight.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: a hero of far-right forces in Europe and beyond. Starkly
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  Speaker 1: limiting immigration, LGBTQ rights and the media, bending the state
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  Speaker 1: to his will while railing against international institutions. Trump was
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  Speaker 1: a huge fan. And when Orban looked like he needed
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: help to turn around poor poll showing ahead of the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: April 2026 election, MAGA stepped in. The president promised economic
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: support should Orban win, and Vice President JD Vance even
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: visited Budapest just days before the election. Viktor Orban is
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: going to win the next election in Hungary. He did not.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: It wasn't even close. The MAGA magic hadn't worked. Other
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  Speaker 1: far-right parties across Europe saw what happened. And as they
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: prepare for their next elections, they're reconsidering whether it makes
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: sense to be so close with Donald Trump and MAGA.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: In Germany, the far-right AFD scored its best-ever election result
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: in September. It was only a state election and a
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  Speaker 1: small one at that. But Saxony-Anhalt was a huge victory,
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  Speaker 1: topping months of steady polling gains. Trump and Elon Musk
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  Speaker 1: had not figured strongly in the AFD's campaigning, but celebrated
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  Speaker 1: the result.
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  Speaker 4: The AFD stands for anti-migration, anti-asylum and anti-diversity politics.
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  Speaker 1: Even more.
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  Speaker 4: They are standing for a homogeneous society, a predominantly white society,
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  Speaker 4: a predominantly Christian society.
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  Speaker 1: My colleague Hans Pfeiffer has been covering the AFD since 2013,
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  Speaker 1: when it was founded as an anti-euro grouping. He says
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the AFD saw parallels with MAGA from the start.
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  Speaker 4: There's this nice German word of Schadenfreude. There was this
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: big Schadenfreude, how he was damaging the liberal system. They
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  Speaker 4: both want to destroy an established system. The MAGA movement
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: wants to swipe out all liberals out of the political system.
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  Speaker 4: AFD always claims that they want to destroy their political opponents.
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  Speaker 1: Elon Musk stepped in to boost MAGA support at the
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  Speaker 1: AFD's party convention ahead of the 2025 federal election. Trump
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: had just become president for a second time. Musk was
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: involved in the government and they wanted to help their
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: friends in Germany. The AFD doubled its vote share to
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  Speaker 1: come second in 2025 and was happy to show where
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: its loyalties lay in the US.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: We think it's good that a new thinking has begun
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  Speaker 2: in Washington. And that's what Donald Trump deserves our respect for.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Donald Trump keeps his promises.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: But he doesn't. And his foreign policy, seizing Venezuela's president,
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  Speaker 1: threatening to annex Greenland, imposing tariffs around the world and
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: starting a war with Iran, did not sit well with
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  Speaker 1: the AFD.
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: He broke an elementary promise, namely not to interfere in
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: other states.
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  Speaker 4: What they shared with Donald Trump was his first approach
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  Speaker 4: to cut solidarity on a worldwide level, cutting funding for
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  Speaker 4: everything what is outside the U.S. The longer his presidency,
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: the more he was starting international conflicts, the more the
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: German far right was distancing from Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 1: This chart shows how AFD supporters have lost confidence in Trump.
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  Speaker 1: And Germans overall never had much. Those are voters the
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  Speaker 1: AfD needs if it wants to continue along the path
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  Speaker 1: to power in Germany.
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  Speaker 4: They use everything to get stronger in Germany. And the
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  Speaker 4: moment they sense that Donald Trump is not an argument
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  Speaker 4: to vote for the AfD, they stop campaigning with his name.
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  Speaker 1: But what happens off the stage and outside of speeches
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  Speaker 1: is a different story. Because the AfD still has much
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  Speaker 1: to gain from MAGA.
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  Speaker 4: You can see that there are frequent gatherings and frequent
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  Speaker 4: trips of German members of parliament to the U.S., to
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  Speaker 4: tighten these connections. The MAGA movement has a lot of
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  Speaker 4: money and a lot of power. The MAGA movement has
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  Speaker 4: not only big, big, big donators, but it also has
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  Speaker 4: tech billionaires behind them.
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  Speaker 1: Elon Musk may not himself be popular in Germany, but
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  Speaker 1: having his X algorithm on your side is hugely valuable.
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  Speaker 1: And as the September election in Saxony-Anhalt showed, MAGA is
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  Speaker 1: happy when the AFD is winning. And when the AFD
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  Speaker 1: is winning, it can afford to accept that praise. Across
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  Speaker 1: the border in France, the far-right are hoping to finally
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  Speaker 1: move into government. And they are in with a chance
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  Speaker 1: to win the 2027 presidential election, with this woman at
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  Speaker 1: the helm.
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  Speaker 5: Marine Le Pen is the presidential candidate of the French far-right.
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  Speaker 5: That party is known mainly for its anti-immigration stance, its
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  Speaker 5: position to radical Islam.
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  Speaker 1: My colleague Lisa Louie is the W's correspondent in Paris.
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  Speaker 1: She's watched Marine Le Pen's attempts to transform the national
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: rally's image. from an openly racist and anti-Semitic party to
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  Speaker 1: one that appeals to a broader voter base, even changing
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the party's name. Ahead of the 2027 presidential elections, Le
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Pen is leading the polls. Last time, she got more
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  Speaker 1: than 41% of the votes, but lost to Emmanuel Macron
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  Speaker 1: in the second round after most other parties urged to
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  Speaker 1: vote against her.
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  Speaker 5: She always says that the establishment wants to prevent her
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  Speaker 5: from reaching power, that also the media kind of trying
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  Speaker 5: to not represent her or misrepresent her ideas to make
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  Speaker 5: sure that she doesn't win the presidential elections.
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  Speaker 1: If you've ever heard Donald Trump talk about elections, this
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: approach may sound familiar. And so it's no surprise that
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  Speaker 1: Marine Le Pen was excited when he first got elected
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  Speaker 1: back in 2016. He was proof that radical anti-immigration, anti-establishment
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: rhetoric could work.
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  Speaker 5: Trump has made possible what was presented as completely impossible.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a sign of hope. But like in Germany,
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  Speaker 1: Trump's increasingly erratic and radical foreign policy decisions have caused
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: unease on the French far right. Trump's repeated threats to
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: annex Greenland prompted this from Marine Le Pen's closest ally
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  Speaker 1: and president of her party, Jordan Bardella.
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  Speaker 4: The president of the United.
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  Speaker 5: States places the European Union before a clear choice.
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  Speaker 1: Accepting a vassalization under the cover of transatlantic partnerships or
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: becoming sovereign actors again. Trump's foreign policies have pushed up
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: prices in France, most acutely rising oil prices caused by
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: his war against Iran and the tariffs he imposed on
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  Speaker 1: EU exports. In June 2026, Trump even threatened a 100%
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  Speaker 1: tariff on French wines to pressure Paris to abolish attacks
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  Speaker 1: affecting US tech companies.
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  Speaker 5: The idea of make America great again in a certain
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  Speaker 5: way goes directly against the idea of of make France
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  Speaker 5: great again, because to make France great again, according to
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  Speaker 5: the national rally, there would be some element of protectionism,
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  Speaker 5: of being independent, not depending on anybody, not being put
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  Speaker 5: down by anybody. And Donald Trump is trying to do
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  Speaker 5: exactly that.
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  Speaker 1: This goes down especially badly in France, thanks to the
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  Speaker 1: French role within Europe and the country's self-image. France is
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  Speaker 1: a key player in EU politics. the second largest country
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  Speaker 1: by population and economy and the only nuclear power on
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  Speaker 1: the continent. And it has a tradition of keeping the
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  Speaker 1: US at arm's length, going back all the way to
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  Speaker 1: President Charles de Gaulle, the defining figure of post-war French politics.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Here we can see how even Le Pen's supporters view
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Trump less favorably by now. His continued unpredictability has made
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: him too despite remaining ideological similarities, at least in the
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  Speaker 1: short term.
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  Speaker 5: She's likely to maintain a certain distance to the MAGA movement.
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  Speaker 5: If she doesn't, that could mean that she might scare
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: off some of the voters, more centrist, more moderate voters,
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  Speaker 5: that she needs to win the upcoming elections. She will use, though,
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  Speaker 5: some of the rhetoric, almost certainly, that Donald Trump is using.
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  Speaker 5: It's just not very popular to be too close to him.
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  Speaker 1: Trump's popularity has also taken a hit in Italy in
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: his second term. Even among supporters of far-right Prime Minister
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Giorgio Meloni, it declined significantly. So as Meloni is looking
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: to get re-elected in 2027, she too has turned away
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: from Trump. Their relationship used to be strong.
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  Speaker 3: At the beginning, she seemed to really want to use
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  Speaker 3: the ideological and political connection to Donald Trump to turn
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  Speaker 3: herself into an important bridge between the European.
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  Speaker 6: Countries and the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Giulia Sardelli is a political correspondent with DW. She keeps
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: a close eye on Italian politics.
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  Speaker 6: Once Trump came.
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  Speaker 2: Back into power, that's when their bilateral relationship started to shine.
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  Speaker 1: Maloney was often seen as Europe's Trump whisperer.
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  Speaker 4: She's a beautiful young woman.
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  Speaker 1: And even as Trump's foreign policy became messier, she stayed
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  Speaker 1: pretty friendly. But Trump threatening Europe with tariffs over Greenland
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  Speaker 1: hit up against her limits.
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  Speaker 2: This is where we start sort of seeing a change
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  Speaker 2: in attitude coming from Meloni, who's starting to realize this
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  Speaker 2: balance with Trump is going to be increasingly hard to strike.
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  Speaker 2: And then it sort of started to unravel from there.
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  Speaker 1: Trump's Iran war added to the tension. Not only was
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  Speaker 1: Italy against the idea, so was this man. After Pope
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Leo called the US attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure unacceptable,
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump accused him of wanting Iran to have nuclear
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  Speaker 1: weapons and endangering Catholics.
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  Speaker 2: Something that Giorgia Meloni decided she couldn't really let slide
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  Speaker 2: and she couldn't tolerate. The Pope himself is still seen
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: as a very important moral authority figure in the country
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  Speaker 2: and she defended the Pope and strongly criticized Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: for his words against Pope Leo.
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  Speaker 1: A few months later, in June 2026, the Maloney-Trump drama
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: erupted for everyone to see. When he claimed she had
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: begged him for a selfie at a G7 summit, Maloney
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: responded with a slapdown.
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump's declarations are totally fabricated.
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  Speaker 4: They are, frankly, a lie. I don't know why the
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  Speaker 4: President of the United States behaves like this with his allies.
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  Speaker 4: Italy and I never implore.
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  Speaker 1: Public but personal. And there's another significant factor that shapes
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: how Maloney behaves towards Trump. Unlike her far-right counterparts in
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Germany and France, she's already in office and wants to
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: get re-elected. As the longest-serving prime minister of post-war Italy,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: she stands for relative stability and wants to be seen
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  Speaker 1: as a reliable ally abroad.
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  Speaker 6: She understood very quickly that, especially for Italy as a country,
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: a country that has very high public debt, that had
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: issues with the financial markets in the past, that it
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: was very important that she show that she was not
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: anti-establishment or trying to radically change things in Italy when
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: it comes to the European Union, NATO, the transatlantic relationship.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: She might want to take a step back from Trump
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: and MAGA, but the US remains a key export market
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: for Italy, as well as its main military protector. Italian
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: elections are coming up next year, putting Maloney under pressure.
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  Speaker 6: It's hard to tell.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: How that relationship might evolve, also because it is hard
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: to gauge what exactly Donald Trump plans to do.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: We've seen how Trump's volatile foreign policy in his second
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: term so far has prompted three major European far-right parties
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: to loosen their ties with the MAGA movement. They do
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: not want to be too closely associated with the costs
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and the chaos America First Politics has produced. That's partly
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: for ideological reasons, but also because they can read the room.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Their voters don't like it. But this cooling of relations
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: should not be treated as a breakup. Far-right parties in
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Europe and the US still see eye to eye on
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: many issues, and Trump's network and power might be too
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: useful for European parties to turn down.