Republican wipeout in US midterms reminds Europe’s far right of its Trump dilemma

European far-right leaders quick to distance themselves from US president and stress their own priorities

The historic Republican defeat in the US midterm elections has forcibly reminded Europe’s far-right leaders of their perennial Donald Trump dilemma: they may love his nativist agenda, but the man himself is a toxic electoral liability.

Since his re-election in 2024, European populist leaders such as Marine Le Pen in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy have carefully calibrated their public postures towards the US president, walking a delicate transatlantic tightrope.

They adore his policies on hard borders, culture wars and anti-globalism. But European voters, even on the far right, detest Trump’s personal volatility, geopolitical unpredictability, unreliability on Europe’s defence, and trade protectionism.