The global right learns that all populism is local

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Mar 05, 2025 View in browser   By Ben Jacobs Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future People stand next to a life-size cardboard cutout of President Donald Trump in Warsaw, Poland on March 4, 2025. | Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images GROWING PAINS — Donald Trump has supercharged the international right, serving as an inspiration to right-leaning populist movements across the globe. Yet Trump’s embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his rough treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his suspension of aid to the embattled nation fighting off a Russian invasion is revealing the seams in the burgeoning global alliance. Among Trump’s European fellow travelers, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has long been a staunch supporter of Ukraine aid and Marine LePen, the leader of the National Rally in France, strongly condemned Trump’s decision to cut off support to Ukraine calling it “reprehensible and cruel” in a newspaper interview on Tuesday. Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, after initially responding cautiously, declared: "Of course, the PVV supports Ukraine and with conviction," he said, referring to his Party for Freedom. Even Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform Party in the United Kingdom who has long been one of Trump’s staunchest allies on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, couldn’t bring himself to support the American president. Farage said of Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s behavior in Friday’s Oval Office summit with Zelensky, “I’m not defending what they did.” The British MP faced a chorus of criticism domestically, however, for suggesting that the Ukrainian president should have worn a suit to the White House. This shouldn’t quite be read as a splintering of the international right wing populist movement, says Steve Bannon, the Trump ally who is one of its most prominent figures. For Bannon, who views Zelensky as “a punk” and “a crook,” it’s simply an extension of former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s maxim that “all politics is local.” He was willing to accept the reasons for Farage and LePen to strike more pro-Ukrainian notes —- as Bannon argued, there's a different dynamic in France and the United Kingdom than there is in the U.S. He said that Farage and LePen “are playing it smartly . . because they can't totally reject the situation in Ukraine, as we have kind of the luxury here in the United States to do. So I think they're playing smart.” Bannon added, “That's the reason we're nationalists, because the politics are different in each country and we appreciate that.” However, he wasn’t so forgiving of Meloni for her support of Ukraine, saying she’s “up to her neck in this thing.” In a measure of Trump’s hold on the imagination of the international right, a number of leaders of the populist right across Europe have echoed the president’s skepticism for increased support for Zelensky and his government’s ongoing fight against the Russian invasion. Among the right wing leaders who flock to international MAGA conventions like the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the United States, many have stood with Trump. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long been a Trump ally and been supportive of his dovishness towards Putin, as have other figures on the European far right including Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Vox Party in Spain. Some have even gone further in their allegiance to Trump: Maxime Bernier, the leader of the far right People’s Party in Canada, has defended Trump’s tariffs against his own country. However, his party has no seats in Ottawa. Still, the fractures signify the inevitable tensions as right wing nationalists from across the world attempt to form a more cohesive movement. (CPAC featured both Romanian and Hungarian nationalists who have competing claims to Transylvania, which is part of Romania but still is subject to irredentist claims from Hungary.) It’s a reminder of how much, despite their differences, the international far right is unlike the far left in the 1930s, which unflaggingly followed the line of Moscow. For all the commonalities — like opposition to immigration and transgender rights — there are always international differences. After all, LePen voted to enshrine abortion rights in the French Constitution, whereas Trump has long taken credit for overturning Roe v Wade in the United States. No one would ever accuse LePen and Trump of being diametrically opposed political figures because of their differences on abortion. Instead, it’s simply that France and the United States are different countries. And, while the right wing movements share the same goal of making their respective countries “great again,” the broader international populist right is not yet dogmatic enough to require everyone taking the same path together. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at bjacobs@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Bencjacobs.   A message from the Coalition to Empower Our Future: With young people experiencing elevated levels of anxiety, hopelessness and loneliness, the Coalition to Empower our Future is seeking to convene a conversation to better understand the many contributing factors surrounding youth mental health. Scientific studies and mental health professionals have found youth wellbeing is a complex and multifaceted issue with several contributing factors. By convening a wide array of perspectives and expertise, the coalition hopes to identify meaningful and comprehensive solutions. Learn more.   What'd I Miss? — Trump pauses Canada, Mexico auto tariffs: President Donald Trump has decided to delay a portion of the 25 percent tariffs he recently imposed on Canada and Mexico for one month at the request of automakers, the White House said Wednesday. “We spoke with the big three auto dealers,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through [the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” Auto trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico accounts for a large share of U.S. trade with those countries, which totaled $1.6 trillion last year. U.S. auto trade with its neighbors totaled about $345 billion, including $120 billion with Canada and $225 billion with Mexico. — Trump administration ordered to reinstate thousands of fired USDA workers: Thousands of fired workers at the Department of Agriculture must get their jobs back for at least the next month and a half, the chair of a federal civil service board ruled today. The ruling said the recent dismissals of more than 5,600 probationary employees may have violated federal laws and procedures for carrying out layoffs. The decision from Cathy Harris, the chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, is a blow to the Trump administration’s effort to drastically and quickly shrink the federal bureaucracy. Though it applies only to the USDA, it could lay the groundwork for further rulings reinstating tens of thousands of other probationary workers whom the Trump administration has fired en masse across the government. — DOJ announces charges, sanctions against 12 Chinese hackers for Treasury breaches: The Trump administration announced today a series of charges and sanctions against a dozen Chinese nationals — including two tied to the Chinese government — for hacking critical U.S. government systems. These steps were taken on a day when two House committees held hearings about ongoing Chinese intrusions into U.S. networks — a major concern in the wake of several massive Chinese-linked breaches into U.S. critical infrastructure, including the recent Salt Typhoon infiltration into U.S. telecommunication networks and a separate hack of the Treasury Department. — Supreme Court rebuffs Trump in fight over foreign aid bills: The Supreme Court has rebuffed the Trump administration’s request to lift a lower-court order that required the government to quickly pay nearly $2 billion that contractors and aid groups say they’re owed for U.S.-backed foreign-aid projects. In a 5-4 ruling today, the high court’s majority noted that a deadline the lower judge set last week to pay the bills had already passed, and the justices urged the judge to show “due regard for the feasibility” of any future deadline he might set. The ruling is a significant but potentially short-lived victory for operators of foreign aid programs who warned of devastating consequences from the administration’s abrupt freeze and dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. A broader legal fight over the future of the agency is continuing to play out in the lower courts. — State Department further scrutinizes foreign aid for DEI, climate and transgender projects: The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor launched a review of its foreign assistance projects today to determine if they fund climate, transgender or diversity, equity and inclusion-related initiatives, according to an internal email obtained by POLITICO. The results of that screening via a questionnaire to organizations that receive State funding may determine the fate of the remainder of aid projects that President Donald Trump froze for 90 days with an executive order in January.   A message from the Coalition to Empower Our Future:   AROUND THE WORLD Activists unfurl a large banner in support of Ukraine outside the European Council building ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on March 5, 2025. | Omar Havana/AP MIDNIGHT SUMMIT — The European Union is used to crises. This could be the one to beat them all. As the bloc’s 27 leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday, they know the entire post-1945 security architecture ― one that depends on being buttressed by the United States ― could crumble any day. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, leaders have talked a lot about sovereignty and defense. Officials from European governments told POLITICO that they acknowledge that the moment has come to translate words into action, yet some already fear it could go horribly wrong. While French President Emmanuel Macron has talked of the need for “an incredible awakening” and German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described Europe as being “five minutes to midnight,” the worry from those close to the discussion is that events are happening more quickly than they can cope with. “The nightmare scenario is that the U.S. announces a deal soon that accepts most of Russia’s demands and then tells Ukraine and Europe to take it or leave it,” said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general at the Royal United Services Institute in London. ABOUT THOSE RUSSIAN FROZEN ASSETS — France is warming up to the possibility of seizing Russian frozen assets to help Ukraine, said an official with direct knowledge of talks within the French government and between Paris and Berlin. The official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely on a delicate matter, said members of the French government have privately discussed seizing the assets, including with their German counterparts, and potentially using them to guarantee loans for Kyiv. European authorities froze around €200 billion of Russian assets held in Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. G7 countries agreed last year to use profits coming from those assets to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, but ruled out using the underlying assets directly as it risks breaching international law. GREENLAND TO TRUMP: DROP DEAD — Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede proclaimed that “Greenland is ours” in response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night, where he said the U.S. will get Greenland “one way or another.” “Americans and their leader must understand that,” Egede wrote on Facebook Wednesday, using the Greenlandic name for the island. “We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland.” Egede’s remarks follow Trump’s pledge to acquire the territory — despite emphasizing Greenland’s self-determination — during his Tuesday speech.   A message from the Coalition to Empower Our Future: To move closer toward meaningful solutions, we must work collaboratively to better understand youth mental health and wellbeing in its full complexity. Economic hardships and poverty, overuse of devices and social media, food and housing insecurity, fear of violence, social isolation, bullying and more should all be taken into account. The Coalition to Empower our Future is working to bring together mental health experts, parents, youth, nonprofit representatives, industry leaders, educators, policymakers and others in a coordinated and urgent manner. Without a fulsome approach, we may lose an opportunity for fully informed solutions that address all the factors impacting young people's mental health. Identifying well-informed solutions can also help support and equip parents and communities with the tools and resources needed to enhance support for young people. We must meet this moment for our children and their futures. Watch our new ad and join us.   Nightly Number $1 billion The amount of a school voucher program that Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is on the cusp of enacting. The program, which will provide tens of thousands of students with taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition, would mark the biggest victory yet for the school choice movement. RADAR SWEEP TREASURE ISLAND — With tensions rising between the U.S. and Canada, an 18-acre hunk of rock situated between the two nations is suddenly attracting more attention. Located at the point where the Gulf of Maine meets the Bay of Fundy, between the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine, Machias Seal Island is the last contested land territory between Canada and the U.S. For BBC Travel, Robin Levinson-King tells the story of the tiny, puffin-filled island that’s too small and remote to be permanently settled, and the lighthouse keepers who staff Canada’s frontier in the Atlantic Ocean. Parting Image On this date in 1983: Pallbearers carry the casket of playwright Tennessee Williams from the St. Louis Cathedral after his funeral. About 1,200 mourners attended the service. | James A. Finley/AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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