President Trump has repeatedly labeled the European Union as an adversary, claiming it exploits the United States economically and is even “worse than China” in competition.
Vice President JD Vance has openly criticized European democracies, citing concerns about suppressed religious expression, limited dissent, uncontrolled migration lacking voter approval, canceled elections, and the perceived censorship of far-right viewpoints, which he believes stifles political discourse.
Breaking from traditional diplomatic norms, Vice President Vance actively intervened in Germany’s spring election. Following his controversial speech in Munich where he assailed European democracy, he controversially met with the leader of the Alternative for Germany, a far-right party widely viewed as anti-constitutional and extremist.
Since President Trump assumed office, his administration has consistently expressed support for right-wing parties across Europe, including in nations like Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.
According to Trump administration officials, these parties champion a ‘civilizational nationalism’ that emphasizes national identity, strong leadership, Judeo-Christian principles, traditional gender roles, and policies against migration and Islam. American conservatives view these movements as a crucial counter to liberalism, which they believe threatens Western security.
The recent tragic killing of activist Charlie Kirk and the Trump administration’s subsequent reaction have intensified the ongoing ideological conflict. While advocating for free speech for the right, President Trump and his officials have simultaneously increased efforts to suppress what they deem ‘hate speech’ from the left. This was highlighted by the celebrated silencing of prominent critics, such as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel this week. Furthermore, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hinted at potential regulatory action against ABC, the broadcaster of Kimmel’s show, and its affiliated local stations.
Many Europeans are concerned that the Trump administration’s attempts to silence liberal critics, particularly through social media-driven public pressure, could provide a blueprint for their own burgeoning far-right and populist movements, whose legitimacy is already boosted by Washington’s endorsement.
During Poland’s presidential campaign in May, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed conservatives in Warsaw, stating, “We do not have the time to dance around the dangers that threaten our societies.” She criticized European leaders as “weak,” asserting that they “have destroyed our countries because they have led by fear. They have used fear to con people, and they’ve used fear to promote an agenda that is not what liberty is about, that is not what freedom is about.”
Noem openly endorsed Karol Nawrocki, the candidate of a far-right Polish party advocating for a reformed European Union. President Trump also welcomed Nawrocki to the White House during his successful campaign and again after his election this month.
The Trump administration’s strong critiques against European liberal policies have intensified into a fierce battle over culture, ideology, and trade. This has led some European leaders and officials to believe that Trump’s aides are actively seeking a ‘regime change’ on the continent, aiming to replace center-left and center-right governments with far-right coalitions that echo their views on national identity, religion, gender, and cultural values.
Critics point to American interference in elections, meetings between Trump allies and sympathetic European lawmakers, efforts to undermine European regulations, intervention in Greenland (a Danish territory and NATO ally), and public criticisms of French and Romanian courts for rulings unfavorable to far-right presidential candidates.
While acknowledging the right of Trump and his advisors to criticize European viewpoints, officials in Europe view the administration’s overt interference in domestic politics as a breach of established norms among allies, contrasting it with Russia’s covert election meddling.
Despite their private frustration, senior European officials are keen to maintain Washington’s support for security reasons. European leaders, who publicly praise Trump and Vance, privately express outrage over their interference in domestic affairs, according to a senior European official who spoke anonymously.
Robin Niblett, former director of Chatham House, an independent research organization, stated that “Vance and his followers believe they are in the vanguard of a revolution in Western identity to a true one, which is a Judeo-Christian West that is being diluted and undermined by a valueless new normality propagated by self-questioning elites.”
He concluded, “So, yes, they are after regime change in Europe.”
Luuk van Middelaar, a Dutch historian and former European official, drew parallels between Trump’s aides and a ‘right-wing Comintern,’ referencing the Soviet organization that championed global communism.
He warned, “Europeans underestimate the potency of the conservative ecosystem in the U.S. The ideologues are in place and want to use this power to build a new Western order.”
Neither the White House nor Mr. Vance offered a comment. However, Vance’s aides asserted that he had publicly denied any intent to interfere in European elections and had engaged with a diverse range of political leaders, including a meeting with then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz before his Munich address.
Forging a ‘Civilizational Alliance’
The Trump administration’s true sentiments about Europe were inadvertently revealed when private group messages, mistakenly including a journalist, surfaced. In these messages, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled Europeans ‘PATHETIC’ after Mr. Vance, referring to actions in Yemen, wrote, ‘I just hate bailing Europeans out again.’
However, President Trump’s aides and supporters are quite transparent about their objectives.
Samuel D. Samson, a senior advisor for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, published an essay on a State Department-maintained site in late May, advocating for politically aligned alliances across Europe.
Mr. Samson, citing inspiration from Mr. Vance, claimed that European governments are engaged in ‘an aggressive campaign against Western civilization itself,’ dismantling its ‘anchors of nationhood, culture and tradition,’ which, he argued, ‘increasingly affects American security.’
Trump officials, alongside leaders of the European nationalist right, aim to forge a ‘civilizational alliance,’ as Samson described it, one built upon ‘common culture, faith, family ties, mutual assistance in times of strife, and above all, a shared Western civilizational heritage.’
Beyond this, other administration officials have criticized the criminal conviction of Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, and have strongly opposed British and other European initiatives to regulate hate speech. Notably, while advising Mr. Trump, Elon Musk publicly urged Germans to reject their centrist parties and instead elect the Alternative for Germany.
A senior German official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the information, indicated that the Alternative for Germany’s meeting with Mr. Vance in February significantly boosted its credibility, much to the private anger of center-right candidate Friedrich Merz, who secured a narrow election victory.
Several European officials believe that Mr. Vance and his increasingly conservative and ideological younger followers are poised to become the future leaders of the Republican Party.
Rem Korteweg, a Dutch political analyst from the nonpartisan Clingendael Institute, noted that Vance and other American conservatives have explicitly stated their objectives go beyond defense spending and trade imbalances. Their true aim, he explained, is ‘undercutting what MAGA officials see as a nefarious, globalist, ‘woke’ project that undermines American power.’
Targeting the European Union
The European Union is a primary target for Trump’s supporters. Kevin D. Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation and a Trump administration ally, frequently calls the E.U. ‘the most aggressive and dangerous enemy of the nation-state anywhere in the world.’ He accuses its leaders of subverting democratic governance and intentionally prioritizing welfare spending and regulation over economic growth.
Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, remarked, ‘Trump’s strategy toward Europe is being developed, but it’s revolutionary.’ He added, ‘The big picture is the defense of Western civilization itself, and this is the first administration to challenge the European project.’
Gardiner further described Mr. Trump as ‘America’s first Euroskeptic president.’
President Trump’s demands for tariffs and his insistence that Europe bear primary responsibility for the Ukraine war and its future are inflicting significant damage on European economies, which are already struggling with high debt and sluggish growth.
Sabine Weyand, an E.U. trade official, recently stated that European trade concessions are driven by fear rather than genuine negotiation—a necessity to preserve security cooperation with the United States amidst Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
She told the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, ‘There is a land war on the European continent, and we are entirely dependent on the United States. The member states were not willing to take the risk of further escalation that would result from European countermeasures.’
Weyand’s frustration is openly evident and mirrors a widespread, though private, sentiment among European officials who now question the United States’ reliability as an ally. Ms. Weyand declared, ‘The post-1945 economic order is gone forever.’
The Heritage Foundation is actively cultivating relationships with like-minded organizations in Europe, such as the Hungarian think tank, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium.
Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador to Washington, urged Europe to abandon complacency. He warned that European leaders ‘are losing the chance to mold whatever system replaces the post-1945 order,’ emphasizing the need for ‘a vision that would not lose track of universal rights and values.’