LONDON — Donald Trump has launched a crusade to convert European politics to his cause, mobilizing the full force of American diplomacy to promote “patriotic” parties, stamp on migration, destroy “censorship” and save “civilization” from decay.  The question is whether Europe’s embattled centrists have the power, or the will, to stop him. In its newly released National Security Strategy document, the White House set out for the first time in a comprehensive form its approach to the geopolitical challenges facing the U.S. and the world. While bringing peace to Ukraine gets a mention, when it comes to Europe, America’s official stance is now that its security depends on shifting the continent’s politics decisively to the right. Over the course of three pages, the document blames the European Union, among others, for raising the risk of “civilizational erasure,” due to a surge in immigrants, slumping birth rates and the purported erosion of democratic freedoms.  “Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less,” it says. “As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies.” With its talk of birth rates declining and immigration rising, the racial dimension to the White House rhetoric is hard to ignore. It will be familiar to voters in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, where far-right politicians have articulated the so-called “great replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy theory falsely asserting that elites are part of a plot to dilute the white population and diminish its influence. “We want Europe to remain European,” the document says. “Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European,” the document reads — making it “an open question” whether such countries will continue to view an alliance with the U.S. as desirable. The policy prescription that follows is, in essence, regime change. “Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory,” the strategy document says. That will involve “cultivating resistance” within European nations. In case there is any doubt about the political nature of the message, the White House paper celebrates “the growing influence of patriotic European parties” as a cause for American optimism. In other words: Back the far right to make Europe great again. FIGHTING SHY Since Trump returned to the White House in January, European leaders have kept up a remarkable performance of remaining calm amid his provocations, so far avoiding an open conflict that would sever transatlantic relations entirely. But for centrist leaders currently in power — like Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Keir Starmer in London and Germany’s Friedrich Merz — the new Trump doctrine poses a challenge so existential that they may be forced to confront it head-on.  “We are facing the same challenges, or versions of the same challenges, and we do talk about it,” Starmer said. | Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images That confrontation could come sooner rather than later, with high-stakes elections in parts of Britain and Germany next year and the possibility of a snap national vote ever-present in France. In each case, MAGA-aligned parties — Reform U.K., the Alternative for Germany and the National Rally — are poised to make gains at the expense of establishment centrists currently in power. America, it is now clear, may well intervene to help.  On current evidence, European officials whose job it is to protect their elections from foreign interference have little appetite for a fight with Trump. The European Commission recently unveiled its plans for a “democracy shield” to protect elections from disinformation and foreign interference. Michael McGrath, the commissioner responsible for the policy, told POLITICO recently that the shield should be drawn widely as Russia is “not the only actor” that may have “a vested interest” in influencing elections. “There are many actors who would like to damage the fabric of the EU, and ultimately undermine trust in its institutions,” he said.  In light of the new National Security Strategy, Trump’s America must now surely count among them.  But McGrath played the diplomat when asked, before the strategy was published, if he would rather U.S. leaders stopped campaigning in European elections and criticizing European democracy.  “They’re entitled to their views, but we have our own standards and we seek to apply our own values and the European approach to international affairs and international diplomacy,” McGrath replied. “We don’t comment or interfere on the domestic matters of a close partner like the United States.” PATHETIC FREELOADERS Even before the strategy was published, Trump administration figures had already provided ample evidence of its disdain for Europe’s political center ground. So far this year, Vice President JD Vance launched a broadside against Europe over free speech and democracy; Elon Musk intervened in the German election to back the far-right Alternative for Germany; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth privately savaged “pathetic” Europeans for “freeloading” on security.  The difference this time is that Trump’s National Security Strategy is official. “It was one thing for them to think it and say it to each other (or in a speech in Munich),” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s something else to put it into a policy document.” What is worse for leaders like Macron, Merz and Starmer is that the Trumpian analysis — that a critical mass of voters want their own European MAGA — may, ultimately, be right.  These leaders are all under immense pressure from the populist right in their own backyards. In Britain, Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. is on track to make major gains at next year’s regional and local elections, potentially triggering a leadership challenge in the governing Labour Party that could force Starmer out.  In Paris, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally tortures Macron’s struggling administrators in parliament, while the Alternative for Germany breathes down Merz’s neck in Berlin and pushes him to take ever harder positions on migration.  The British prime minister disclosed in an interview with The Economist this week that he spoke to Merz and Macron at a recent private dinner in Berlin about the shared threat they all face from the right. “We are facing the same challenges, or versions of the same challenges, and we do talk about it,” Starmer said.  If America makes good on Trump’s new strategy, private dinner party chats among friends may not be enough.

BERLIN — Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, told leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD — a party labeled extremist by German authorities — that he sees them as “bold visionaries” shaping the country’s future. Speaking to a room packed with AfD parliamentarians and supporters in Berlin on Wednesday night, Bruesewitz declared that MAGA conservatives and members of Germany’s rising far right are united in a common fight along with other nationalist forces around the world against “Marxists” and “globalists” that he framed as “a spiritual war for the soul of our nations.” Bruesewitz, a social media guru credited with helping Trump return to the White House, is now a senior adviser to Never Surrender, Trump’s leadership political action committee. His speech to AfD parliamentarians comes at a time when German far-right figures are increasingly looking for legitimacy and support from MAGA Republicans in the U.S., particularly for what they frame as a struggle against political persecution and censorship at home. It’s something of a turnabout for AfD politicians, who have historically exhibited a strong anti-American streak, viewing the U.S. as having infringed on Germany’s sovereignty in the postwar era and seeking instead to build closer relations with Russia. But since Trump’s return to the White House, AfD leaders have made a concerted effort to get close to MAGA Republicans. Beatrix von Storch, an AfD politician who has been at the forefont of the party’s efforts to build connections with MAGA Republicans, said Bruesewitz’s visit was about “reaching out to be closer to our American friends.” Bruesewitz echoed that message during his talk on “the global battle for truth,” as the event was dubbed. “We are in this together,” he said. “The globalists fear united patriots more than anything.” WHO’S THE ANTI-DEMOCRAT? The AfD is now the strongest opposition party in the German parliament, and in many recent polls has surpassed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling conservatives. The party’s growing popularity comes despite the fact that earlier this year, Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency, which is tasked with monitoring groups deemed to be antidemocratic, declared the AfD to be an extremist organization. This designation fueled debate among mainstream German politicians about whether the party ought to be banned under provisions of the German Constitution designed to prevent a repeat of the Nazi rise to power. Centrist parties in Germany have so far refused to form national coalitions with the AfD, maintaining a so-called firewall around the far right that has been in place since shortly after World War II. But AfD politicians argue that German mainstream politicians are the true antidemocratic forces and are seeking to suppress the will of the German people through the state apparatus. They have often found a sympathetic ear for that argument in MAGA circles. When Germany’s domestic intelligence agency declared the AfD to be extremist, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the move “tyranny in disguise.” During the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, U.S. Vice President JD Vance urged mainstream politicians in Europe to protect free speech rights of anti-immigration parties and to knock down the “firewalls” that shut out far-right parties from government. The AfD is now the strongest opposition party in the German parliament, and in many recent polls has surpassed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling conservatives. | Clemens Bilan/EPA AfD politicians have repeatedly visited Washington in recent months to make the case that they are the victims of political persecution and to solicit American support. Last week, German right-wing influencer and AfD ally Naomi Seibt said she had applied for asylum in the U.S., claiming to be “facing persecution” in Germany for her views and saying she is the target of “severe government and intelligence surveillance and harassment.” LOST IN TRANSLATION During his Berlin speech, Bruesewitz suggested MAGA Republicans had faced a similar experience of persecution in the U.S., likening criminal indictments against Trump and past social media deplatforming of right-wing figures to the same kind of leftist, anti-democratic suppression AfD leaders claim to be facing. “As I sit and watch what’s happening all over Europe with the censorship concerns, the same thing happened in America,” said Bruesewitz. “You can let it happen here. You have to protect free speech,” he added to a round of enthusiastic applause. Not all aspects of Bruesewitz’s message were met with equal enthusiasm. His defense of Trump’s tariffs, which have hit Germany’s export-oriented industries particularly hard, did not win applause. Bruesewitz also repeatedly invoked passages from the Bible and called on Germans to embrace a distinctly American brand of Christian nationalism that, while embraced by some AfD politicians, is largely alien to Germans, who are broadly less pious. At one point, Bruesewitz called faith “our greatest weapon,” and said the killing of conservative American influencer Charlie Kirk had made him realize that conservative nationalists are not just engaged in a political battle, but rather a “spiritual war” that extends beyond the U.S. “The forces arrayed against us aren’t just ideological opponents, they’re manifestations of evil, seeking to extinguish the light of faith, family and freedom,” Bruesewitz said. “This spiritual battle isn’t confined to the United States. Oh, no. Germany and America may be separated by thousands of miles of ocean, but we face the same exact enemies, the same threats, the same insidious forces trying to tear us down.”

Police in Berlin on Thursday searched the home of prominent conservative political commentator and former university professor Norbert Bolz over a social media post he wrote in 2024 that contained a Nazi-era slogan. On Thursday morning, officers arrived at Bolz’s home and questioned him about a post on X that featured the Nazi-affiliated expression, “Deutschland erwache!” (“Germany, awake!”). Bolz confirmed his authorship of the post, avoiding the seizure of his laptop, he told POLITICO.  “The friendly police officers gave me the good advice to be more careful in the future. I’ll do that and only talk about trees from now on,” Bolz sarcastically commented in a separate post on X. Bolz is a regular commentator for WELT, a sister publication of POLITICO in the Axel Springer Group. A Berlin public prosecutor confirmed that police carried out a search in connection with an investigation into the “use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations.” Bolz had shared a post from the left-wing newspaper taz that read, “Ban of the AfD and a petition against Höcke: Germany awakens,” and added ironically: “A good translation for “woke”: Germany awake!” The German case comes after U.K. authorities arrested “Father Ted” co-creator Graham Linehan on suspicion of inciting violence with a series of social media posts about transgender people, amid a wider debate over hate speech laws and free expression in the U.K. and other European countries. In February at the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President JD Vance lambasted European leaders, arguing that free speech was increasingly under threat on the continent, though the Trump administration has itself also clamped down on some commentary posted on social media.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Heute Abend tagt der Koalitionsausschuss – und die Stimmung zwischen Union und SPD ist nicht die beste. Nachdem SPD-Chefin Bärbel Bas die Warnungen zum Sozialstaat des Kanzlers als „Bullshit“ bezeichnet hat, steht vieles auf der Kippe. Rasmus Buchsteiner analysiert, was auf der Agenda steht und ob eine Einigung überhaupt möglich ist. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview: Matthias Miersch. Der SPD-Fraktionschef über seine schwierige politische Partnerschaft mit Jens Spahn, wieso er Bärbel Bas „Bullshit” nicht unangemessen findet und warum er an möglichen Steuererhöhungen festhält. Außerdem: Das Klassentreffen der Diplomaten in Berlin. Gordon blickt auf die Botschafterkonferenz kommende Woche und auf einen Beinahe-Eklat um einen Frauenempfang im Auswärtigen Amt. Und: Rixa Fürsen nimmt euch zum “Family & Friends”-Treffen der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz in Berlin mit. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren. Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: @gordon.repinski | X: @GordonRepinski.

LONDON — JD Vance is on a summer break in Britain. He’s not always been such a fan. Donald Trump’s second-in-command hasn’t exactly been shy in expressing what he really thinks about the U.K. over the years, branding it an “Islamist” hellhole bent on ending free speech. But apart from that! As he holidays in the idyllic Cotswolds (dubbed the “Hamptons of England“) — including a stay at U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s taxpayer-funded country pile — Vance will see if his pontificating from afar matches reality. POLITICO runs through five occasions where Vance did not hold back in his assault on old Blighty. 1) BRITAIN IS AN “ISLAMIST COUNTRY” Vance made this outburst before Trump selected him as his VP pick. Last July, the then-Ohio senator called the U.K. an “Islamist country” after Labour ousted the Conservatives from Downing Street.  Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C., Vance recounted a conversation with a friend about the dangers of nuclear proliferation. And then he pushed the red button. “I was talking about what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon,” Vance recalled. “Maybe it’s Iran, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we sort of finally decided maybe it’s actually the U.K., since Labour just took over.” Labour, then briefly basking in their election glory, shrugged off Vance’s comments.  “I don’t recognize that characterization,” said no-nonsense Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. “I’m very proud of the election success that Labour had recently. I think he said quite a lot of fruity things in the past as well.” That’s one way of putting it.  2) BRITAIN KILLED FREEDOM OF SPEECH  One of Vance’s first overseas visits in the new gig was to the Munich Security Conference — dubbed “Davos with guns” — in February. Vance’s trip includes a stay at U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s taxpayer-funded country pile. | Johnny Green/PA Images via Getty Images Vance used the forum to launch an attack on Western societies for curbing free speech and allowing mass migration. The U.K. came in for particular criticism, with Vance claiming the “backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs.” Vance attacked buffer zones outside U.K. abortion clinics, which prohibit protest within a certain distance. And he claimed that the Scottish government had urged citizens to “report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime.” 3) GUNNING FOR KEIR STARMER When a guest comes to visit, it’s generally nice to make them feel welcome. Not for Vance, who  was happy to make British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sit just a little uneasily in the Oval Office back in February.   While Starmer and Trump appeared to get on like a house on fire, Vance, sat to one side on a couch, carped about how Britain was attacking free speech.  “We also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British — of course what the British do in their own country is up to them — but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens,” Vance said. In fairness, the U.K. government did demand Apple grant it a backdoor to access user data, teeing up an almighty fight with the U.S. And its online safety laws have tried to rein in tech giants with new rules forcing them to police “harmful” content – much to the annoyance of some U.S. lawmakers. Still, Starmer managed to hold his own in the face of the impromptu attack. “We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time,” the PM shot back as Trump looked on. 4) YOU AND WHOSE ARMY?  As Britain and France strained to show Trump that Europe was willing to commit peacekeepers to bolster any Ukrainian ceasefire deal, Vance stepped on a rake. He claimed that the big minerals deal struck between Kyiv and Washington would actually be a better guarantee of Ukraine’s security than “some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.” A soldier of “some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years” fires on the Taliban in Afghanistan, 2007. John Moore/Getty Images The U.K. and France had both fought wars more recently than that — and, while he didn’t name names, Vance was accused by British politicians of disrespecting the memory of the hundreds of soldiers killed while fighting alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq. Vance called the criticism of him “absurdly dishonest” and insisted he wasn’t referring to the U.K. and France but unspecified countries who didn’t have the “battlefield experience nor the military equipment.” That’s that cleared up, then. 5) LABORING THE POINT  Vance’s most recent criticism is a familiar right-wing talking point, with the vice-president claiming that immigration has tanked Britain’s productivity. “If you look in nearly every country, from Canada to the U.K., that imported large amounts of cheap labor, you’ve seen productivity stagnate,” he told Washington, D.C. tech bros. “That’s not a total happenstance. I think that the connection is very direct.” In an act of unparalleled generosity, he pointed out that the U.S. has also pursued “40 years of failed economic policy” too. There’s that missing sense of transatlantic solidarity! … AND THE ONE TIME HE WAS NICE Perhaps aware he may have crossed the line one time too many, Vance told UnHerd in April that there is a deep “cultural affinity” between the two nations. He highlighted Trump’s admiration for King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth. That’s code for: I want to tag along on your fancy state visit, Donald.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Wer regiert die Welt – und was treibt sie an? In unserem Sommer-Spezial geht es um die mächtigsten und umstrittensten Politikerinnen und Politiker unserer Zeit. Wir zeigen, wie sie denken, entscheiden – und was das für uns bedeutet. Ein Politiker pro Tag, ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der Macht. In der Machthaber-Serie: 04.08.2025 – Wladimir Putin 05.08.2025 – Marine Le Pen 06.08.2025 – Javier Milei 07.08.2025 – Xi Jinping 08.08.2025 – Giorgia Meloni 11.08.2025 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 12.08.2025 – Benjamin Netanjahu 13.08.2025 – Narendra Modi 14.08.2025 – Friedrich Merz 15.08.2025 – Mohammed bin Salman 16.08.2025 – Ursula von der Leyen Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren. Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: @gordon.repinski | X: @GordonRepinski.

The Trump administration is attacking Europe over free speech, saying its regulation of social media and other online platforms amounts to “Orwellian” censorship. In a social media post Tuesday, the State Department, without giving any specifics, said thousands of people are being convicted for criticizing their own governments, echoing remarks Vice President JD Vance made earlier this year. “This Orwellian message won’t fool the United States,” it said. “Censorship is not freedom.” The State Department then appeared to link the claim to the Digital Services Act, the EU’s tech and social media rulebook, saying: “All the DSA protects is European leaders from their own people.” The State Department did not immediately respond to follow-up questions. Several American social media giants, including Meta and X, have faced legal action under the DSA, which entered into force in 2022. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have increasingly scrutinized the social media posts of foreigners seeking to enter the country, including students, with the State Department directing consular officers to be on the lookout for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.” The State Department post appeared to be a continuation of previous Trump administration criticism of EU content moderation rules. In March, Brendan Carr, the chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, warned in a speech to the Mobile World Congress that the regulations threaten free speech. Vance launched an attack on European governments at the Munich Security Conference in February, lambasting what he deemed “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in May a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign officials complicit in censoring what Americans post online, singling out Latin America and Europe.