The new POLITICO Poll data offers a potential warning to right-wing populist parties trying to attract broader support while also getting closer to Trump, as people who said they would support such parties in a new vote were more negative about Trump than those who supported them in the past across the U.K., France and Germany.
The U.S. president is even more unpopular across the general population. In France and Germany, two-thirds of respondents held a negative opinion of him. In the U.K., 55 percent reported negative views; barely more than in the U.S., where 50 percent said they had negative views. Trump is least popular in Canada, where 72 percent of respondents held a negative opinion.
Supporters of the “patriotic” right-wing populist parties the U.S. administration name-checked in its security strategy are far more supportive of the U.S. president than others but, crucially, not even they delivered a ringing endorsement.
In France, voters of the National Rally of French right-wing populist firebrand Marine Le Pen were broadly appreciative of her. But when it came to the U.S. president, more voters said they held a negative view (38 percent) than reported a positive one (30 percent). Alternative for Germany supporters overwhelmingly approved of party leader Alice Weidel, but were also divided over Trump, with 34 percent thinking well of him and 33 percent opposed.
The findings underscore the challenge facing the National Rally, which isn’t just catering to its past voter base but also trying to win broader backing ahead of local elections next year and a key presidential election in 2027. The party of right-wing populist firebrands Le Pen and Jordan Bardella is the third political force but the largest single party in the National Assembly, and is currently polling well ahead of other parties.
Its leaders were quick to dismiss White House efforts to support Europe’s right-wing forces. Bardella told The Telegraph that he rejected the “vassalage” of “a big brother like Trump,” and Thierry Mariani, a member of the party’s national board, told POLITICO that “Trump treats us like a colony — with his rhetoric, which isn’t a big deal, but especially economically and politically.”