It seems Donald Trump’s political ambitions now extend far beyond the US border.

The former president is actively engaged in what experts describe as a “culture war,” aiming to reshape Europe’s political landscape, according to reports.

It is a coordinated effort to support nationalist and authoritarian leaders abroad, and it carries implications for democracies everywhere, including the UK.

Boosting far-right leaders

Trump supports European figures whose policies lean toward authoritarian nationalism. Key beneficiaries include:

• Viktor Orbán (Hungary): Orbán’s government has curtailed media freedom, weakened judicial independence, and targeted minority groups[1]. He frames these moves as defending “traditional European values.”

• Giorgia Meloni (Italy): Meloni promotes anti-immigrant policies and ultranationalist messaging, using cultural identity as a political tool[2].

• Robert Fico (Slovakia): Fico has enacted xenophobic and anti-LGBT legislation while consolidating power through political patronage[3].

• Karol Nawrocki (Poland): Nawrocki’s leadership in cultural and historical institutions has been used to promote nationalist narratives and reinterpret history to bolster political authority[4].

Their strategies — populist rhetoric, anti-elite framing, and the promotion of “outsiders” v “the people” — are mirrored, smaller-scale, by parties like Reform UK[5].

Reform lacks Orbán’s institutional control, but it echoes similar populist framing, nationalist messaging, and criticism of established governance.

Undermining European unity

But Trump’s influence is not limited to individual politicians. EU institutions have been deliberately sidelined in discussions over major geopolitical issues, including Ukraine, trade negotiations, and strategic alliances[6].

This marginalisation of established institutions is mirrored by the anti-establishment rhetoric of Reform UK, which criticizes Westminster processes and frames direct “popular” influence as superior to parliamentary mechanisms[7].

By excluding EU leaders from critical discussions and amplifying nationalist voices, Trump hopes to weaken collective decision-making in Europe.

Reform UK echoes these populist narratives, undermining democratic institutions while going largely unchecked by a media that prefers to amplify soundbites  rather than scrutinising consequences.

Ideological warfare: culture as a battlefield

The “culture war” is as much ideological as political. Trump’s messaging promotes:

• Nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment

• Anti-elite framing, portraying liberal institutions as out-of-touch or corrupt

• The notion that traditional values are under siege

He amplifies these tactics through media channels, political campaigns, and think tanks aligned with right-wing European movements[8].

Reform UK employs a comparable strategy in the UK: framing the party as the voice of ordinary people against a corrupt establishment, with nationalist undertones in messaging on immigration, sovereignty, and law and order[9].

What Trump is doing in Europe, Farage is trying to do in the UK.

We may be lucky in having the watered-down version – but that means it is all the more vital that we must not let it get a foothold.

If that happened, what would it say about us?

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Footnotes

[1] European Council on Foreign Relations, Reality Show: Why Europe Must Not Cave in to Trump’s Culture War, 23 September 2025, https://ecfr.eu/publication/reality-show-why-europe-must-not-cave-in-trumps-culture-war/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] European Cultural Foundation, Trump’s Influence on European Nationalist Movements, 2025, https://culturalfoundation.eu/trump-europe-report
[6] The Guardian, Trump’s Culture War in Europe: Report Highlights US Interference, 23 September 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/23/trump-culture-war-europe-promoting-rightwing-allies-report-finds
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.