Far-right politicians across Europe have begun distancing themselves from U.S. President Donald Trump following the Democrats' victory in the U.S. midterm elections, although most have avoided directly criticising the president himself.
The shift is particularly notable given that many of these leaders celebrated their ideological ties with Trump following his 2024 election victory. Some have since visited Washington and received backing from his billionaire ally, Elon Musk.
Jordan Bardella, leader of France's National Rally party, which most polls suggest could form the next government, has come to embody this political shift.
Bardella said Trump's second term was less isolationist than his first, from 2017 to 2021. “American intervention regarding Iran carries very heavy consequences” for economies around the world, he added, without mentioning Trump as being behind that intervention.
In Germany, Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, also attributed the Republican defeat to the Iran war. She told news outlet T-Online: “Trump had promised his voters not to pursue an interventionist foreign policy ... This broken promise has now come back to haunt the Republicans.”
Trump acknowledged that the war with Iran had played a role in his party's losses but said he stood by his decision.
In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, which is part of the ruling coalition, said “the American result was influenced above all by the wars, international tensions and the increase in the cost of living, the consequences of which fall directly on families.”
“The hope is that this vote can represent an acceleration towards the end of the conflicts and a return to peace,” he added.
Roberto Vannacci, a former Italian general who leads the far-right Futuro Nazionale party, said the U.S. result showed the political dangers of failing to deliver on electoral promises.
Vannacci had previously expressed admiration for Trump's “America First” brand of nationalist politics but has since criticised the president over foreign policy.
“Trump failed to live up to expectations, was unable to bring the war between Russia and Ukraine to an end and launched a war against Iran,” Vannacci told the Italian news agency ANSA, arguing that the resulting rise in energy prices and economic and stock market turmoil had hurt the American middle class and contributed to the election result.
Analyst Mujtaba Rahman, managing director of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said Europe's far-right leaders were distancing themselves from Trump for obvious political advantage.
“His growing unpopularity, particularly over the cost of living, risks turning what was once a political asset into an electoral liability,” he told Reuters.
Rahman said far-right leaders appeared to want it both ways: to reap the “ideological momentum of Trumpism” without being tarred by the “chaos and economic disruption of his presidency”.
“The risk is that Trump and his MAGA allies, who see Europe’s far right as ideological partners in their struggle against the European establishment, could respond by withdrawing their political support or even turning against them,” he added.
One of the few to play down the scale of the Republican defeat was Dan Dungaciu, vice-president of the opposition hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians, who argued that reports of Trump's “political death” were “greatly exaggerated”.
“Donald Trump does not automatically become a powerless president. Instead, he moves from a presidency backed by Republican majorities to one in which the executive and Congress will check each other much more intensely,” he added.
In Spain, the leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, made little attempt to temper his move away from Trump, telling reporters he was “in Spain and not in Michigan”.
“I care quite little about what happens in other places,” said Abascal, who had previously touted his alliance with Trump and the “Make America Great Again” movement.
Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right Restore Britain party, also blamed the decision to attack Iran for the Republicans' defeat, calling it a “catastrophic mistake”.
“What has this war achieved? Absolutely nothing of worth,” he added.
However, Lowe did not mention the name of the president who launched the war in his lengthy post on Platform X.
The right-wing populist Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, acknowledged on Wednesday that the election had been a “complete and utter rout” for the Republicans, despite his earlier prediction that expectations of a Democratic landslide were overblown.
Farage, who has regularly touted his friendship with the American president and visited the White House last year, told GB News there was now “potential” for a rift between Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
“It turns out many of the young men, those who follow all sorts of right-wing influencers who voted for Trump in 2024, actually voted Democrat yesterday. It was a punishment beating, very much I think, because of the war, the extended war in Iran, and the cost of fuel,” Farage added.
