Ventura, whose party has surged in recent election cycles, is often described as a Portuguese Trump for his confrontational tactics and heated campaign rhetoric targeting Portugal’s ruling elite. The Chega leader traveled to Washington, D.C. for Trump’s inauguration and borrowed the MAGA slogan during last year’s parliamentary election campaign, saying he wanted to “make Portugal great again.”
But with Portugal now among many European countries hit by increasing fuel prices caused by war in the Middle East, Ventura appears to be turning on his American role model — like other populist chiefs across Europe who have jabbed the U.S. president’s “erratic” war goals or walked back support in the face of a snowballing cost-of-living crisis.
“I wish this war didn’t exist, especially for Portugal, Spain, France, Italy. We are paying more than the United States the price for this war,” he said during the interview. “It’s not very fair that one country starts the war and the others pay for the costs.”
The former sports commentator turned leading politician — whose early steps in politics were marred by controversies over comments widely criticized as racist — has elevated his party from barely registering in the polls to becoming the largest opposition group in the Portuguese parliament. He secured a third of the votes in February’s presidential election.
His recent electoral gains place Ventura among several far-right leaders and parties currently surging across the continent. Representatives from several of his European allies, including France’s National Rally, Spain’s Vox, Hungary’s Fidesz and Italy’s League, traveled to the Ericeira event where they shared views closely aligned with the MAGA-boosted narrative that Europe is suffering civilizational decline because of uncontrolled immigration and crippling regulation.
Ventura urged like-minded European politicians to unite, including by working with parties currently not part of the continental Patriots alliance, such as the Alternative for Germany. The AfD was kicked out of the ID Group, one of the precursors to the Patriots, in 2024 over downplaying Germany’s Nazi past. Its stellar performance in this month’s regional elections in eastern Germany has highlighted a schism in Europe between far-right parties eager to soften their image and those, like the AfD, who are doubling down on their radical positioning.