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Politico (10 December 2025)

Nette Nöstlinger and Victor Goury-Laffont

U.S. President Donald Trump’s overt embrace of Europe’s nationalists is exposing a rift among its biggest far-right parties.

While Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has welcomed Trump’s moral support, viewing it as a way to win domestic legitimacy and end its political ostracization, France’s National Rally has kept its distance — viewing direct American backing as a potential liability.

The parties, which lead the polls in the EU’s two biggest economies, have long had their differences — not least over some of the German party’s comments related to World War II. But their divergent reactions to Trump stem less from varying ideologies than from distinct domestic political calculations.

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