The U.S. Is Bullying Europe Like Never Before

The Trump administration is accused of intervening in the domestic politics of allied European democracies, favoring parties aligned with MAGA or with U.S.-backed commercial interests rather than supporting democratic institutions neutrally. The strongest example is Poland: President Trump reportedly urged Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz to leave his governing coalition and join nationalist and far-right parties. Kosiniak-Kamysz did not comply. Trump had also endorsed Poland’s far-right presidential candidate, later claiming credit for his win. In Romania, former U.S. ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle promoted a regional gas pipeline and American LNG purchases while cultivating ties with politicians who later helped bring down the centrist government. Guilfoyle and Romanian politicians deny that she influenced the government’s collapse.

The concern extends to Germany, where Trump and Elon Musk have publicly promoted the far-right, pro-Russian AfD. German lawmakers reportedly interpreted U.S. officials’ decision to exclude Social Democrats from meetings in Washington as a signal that the Christian Democrats should partner with AfD instead. These efforts, the argument contends, undermine Europe’s political safeguards against extremism and contradict U.S. calls for allies to take greater responsibility for their defense. The parties receiving Washington’s support often oppose military aid to Ukraine, defense cooperation, or increased military spending; some also echo Russian-friendly or anti-European positions. The resulting policy is incoherent: encouraging European rearmament while backing forces that weaken collective defense and alliances. It recalls an earlier, failed strategy of empowering nationalist movements at the expense of European unity.