Powerful Trump allies 'squirming' at president's 'genocidal rhetoric': WaPo
Donald Trump's ramped-up saber-rattling and erratic pronouncements are also having the effect of rattling European leaders who once embraced his form of nationalism, leading them to publicly express their differences.
According to the Washington Post's Steve Hendrix and Stefano Pitrelli, longtime Trump ally Nigel Farage — who spearheaded Brexit — is now publicly distancing himself from the president, making it clear by bluntly telling reporters, "I happen to know him, but that's by the by."
Farage is not alone.
Across Britain and Europe, nationalist leaders are "squirming" at the mention of Trump and retreating from him after positioning his second term as a triumph for populism. Fifteen months in, the links between Trump's MAGA movement and Europe's nationalist parties are at the breaking point, the Post is reporting.
Pro-Trump politicians from London to Rome — already uncomfortable with his on-again, off-again tariffs, and his obsession with seizing Greenland, and then the surprise Iran attack — have discovered limits to their loyalty as his "genocidal rhetoric" becomes more frightening, Hendrix and Pitrelli are reporting.
Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany party co-chair Tino Chrupalla recently accused the Trump administration of potential "war crimes" in targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran.
France's Marine Le Pen condemned Trump's "erratic" war goals and warned of "catastrophic consequences" on fuel prices. "It is becoming apparent that very little preparation was done," Le Pen told the French daily Le Parisien. Her protégé, Jordan Bardella — a prime contender for the French presidency next year — recently condemned Trump's "imperial ambitions."
Political scientist Ivan Krastev told the Post, "Trump seems to be a nationalist who does not understand nationalism, particularly the nationalism of others."
"There was a view at the start that the administration would provide a tailwind, because you now had a U.S. administration that shares their values, their policy goals, their political agenda," explained Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group consultancy. "That's totally fallen apart now."
Trump's conduct with regard to the Pope and the Vatican has only exacerbated the exodus. After claiming personal credit for Pope Leo XIV's selection because he's American, Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting himself in a white robe performing a Christ-like healing before hastily deleting it after it created a firestorm.
That led Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister who has spent a year positioning herself as a bridge between Trump and Europe, to issue a rare criticism.
"I find President Trump's words towards the Holy Father unacceptable. The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war."