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The continent’s leaders have concerns that U.S. officials are pushing for parties that support their views of nationalism and traditional values to come into power.
Sept. 20, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
President Trump has called the European Union “a foe,” “set up to take advantage of the United States” and “worse than China” as an economic competitor.
Vice President JD Vance has criticized European democracy as deeply flawed — suppressing religious expression and dissent; promoting uncontrolled migration without voter consent; canceling elections; and censoring the far right, thus limiting political debate.
Mr. Vance has even gone further, wading into Germany’s politics during the country’s election this spring, a departure from the custom of world leaders staying out of the domestic affairs of allies. After his surprise attack on European democracy in a Munich speech in February, he met with the head of a far-right party considered anti-constitutional and extremist, the Alternative for Germany.
In the months since Mr. Trump took office, other administration officials have declared their support for right-wing parties in nearly every country in Europe, including Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
Those parties, the Trump officials said, represent a so-called civilizational nationalism that favors national identity, strong leaders, Judeo-Christian values, traditional gender roles, and anti-migrant and anti-Islam policies. The American conservatives see them as the best antidote to the liberalism that they regard as a threat that undermines Western security.
The killing of the activist Charlie Kirk and the Trump administration’s response to it in recent days has fueled the ideological battle. Mr. Trump and his officials, while demanding free speech for the right, have escalated efforts to crack down on what they call hate speech from the left, celebrating the silencing of popular critics like the late-night host Jimmy Kimmel this week. The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, also suggested that regulators could use their powers against ABC, the network that airs Mr. Kimmel’s show, and the local stations that carry it.
