European far-right leaders have shown signs of distancing themselves from Donald Trump after significant losses for the Republican Party in the U.S. midterm elections. These elections resulted in the Republicans losing control of both chambers of Congress.
Shift in Positioning
These changes, though small, are noteworthy, especially considering that European right-wing figures have previously embraced their ideological ties with Trump. On Trump's inauguration day in January 2025, Giorgia Meloni, Italy's Prime Minister, and Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain's far-right Vox party, were among the European lawmakers invited.
Criticism of Trump's Foreign Policies
However, it seems that the stances are changing. While leftist leaders in Europe have expressed joy over the Democrats' victory in the midterm elections, some right-wing figures tend to distance themselves from Trump and his policies. Trump entered the 2024 race with a promise to avoid U.S. involvement in foreign wars, but his ongoing war with Iran, now in its ninth month, contradicts this promise. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), pointed this out in her assessment of the Republican Party's losses.
Weidel stated, "Trump had promised his voters that he would not engage in interventionist foreign policy. This broken promise has now returned to haunt the Republicans."
She also noted that typically, the party controlling the White House loses seats in the midterm elections, but the scale of the Republicans' defeat is "significant" and can be attributed to the "devastating consequences of the war with Iran."
Reactions to the Republican losses in Europe reflect changes in these parties' relationships with Trump. In Spain, Abascal, who will participate in early elections at the end of November, avoided any discussion about the midterm elections, stating, "I am not in Michigan to analyze the elections; I am in Ciudad Real."
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