Trump's Greenland Moves Cost Him With Europe's Far Right

Tensions over President Trump's goal of taking control of Greenland have driven a wedge in the once-solid link between MAGA and Europe's far right. The rift seems to signal that ideological alignment alone may not be enough to temper worries among European nationalists over Trump's interventionism abroad, the AP reports. Far-right leaders in Germany, Italy, and France have strongly criticized Trump's Greenland plans. "Donald Trump has violated a fundamental campaign promise—namely, not to interfere in other countries," said Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, per the Los Angeles Times.

During a debate Tuesday in the European Parliament, far-right lawmakers typically aligned with Trump overwhelmingly supported halting a EU-US trade pact over Trump's threats, calling them coercion and threats to sovereignty, per the AP. Even Nigel Farage, a longtime ally of Trump and head of the Reform UK nationalist party, called the Greenland moves "a very hostile act." Less than a year ago, Europe's far-right parties gathered in Madrid to applaud Trump's return to office under the banner "Make Europe Great Again," while Elon Musk boosted European far-right influencers and figures on X, including the AfD. Yet deep divisions within MAGA over Trump's approach to foreign affairs have reverberated in Europe, with his actions on Greenland, Venezuela, and Iran prompting his political allies to stick with their ideological convictions over their deference to the US president.

France's far-right National Rally has at times vaunted its ideological closeness to Trump, particularly on immigration. A year ago, the party sent one of its senior figures, Louis Aliot, to attend Trump's inauguration. In turn, Trump has staunchly defended party leader Marine Le Pen, describing her conviction for embezzling EU funds as a "witch hunt." Now, Le Pen and the head of National Rally are oppose folding to what they call Trump's coercion, per the Times. "Yielding today would set a dangerous precedent," said Jordan Bardella. A few Trump allies have stayed away from the criticism. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sought to cast Trump's threats on Greenland and operation in Venezeula either as beneficial for Hungary, or none of its business. "It's an in-house issue. … It's a NATO issue," Orban said of Trump's designs on Greenland.