Nigel Farage is enthusiastic about Donald Trump. At 60 years old, he represents the parliamentary constituency of Clacton, a charming coastal town in England, while also leading his latest populist right-wing party, Reform. Farage often directs his attention toward the U.S. and his publicly promoted camaraderie with the 47th president. He was present in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration despite feeling slighted for not securing a prime spot in the Capitol Rotunda. Last month, he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference, humorously remarking to the American audience, “you gave us ‘woke,’ and we gave you Prince Harry.”
As the head of a party with fewer than six members of Parliament, Farage understands that his visibility in America grants him a status he might not achieve otherwise. In December, he was photographed alongside Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago beneath a portrait of a youthful Trump in cricket attire. Just days after Trump survived an assassination attempt in July, Farage flew to the U.S. on a trip funded by a generous Reform donor. On his parliamentary financial-disclosure form, Farage noted the trip’s purpose as “to support a friend who was nearly killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage.” Quite the fortune for Clacton.
However, Farage’s connection with Trump is now a growing concern. The 47th president holds little popularity in Britain, where Farage aims to boost the 14.3 percent of the vote he received in the last election—he likely needs to at least double this if he harbors ambitions of becoming prime minister. The situation worsens for him as Trump’s MAGA movement is often perceived as overtly racist and pro-Russia, which are significant turn-offs for most British voters. Even right-leaning British newspapers expressed outrage over Trump’s poor treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, while Reform’s current supporters already diverge with their distinctly anti-immigration perspectives. So, shifting further to the right is not a viable strategy in Britain.
This sentiment resonates globally. According to Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, “The populist right around the world faces a MAGA dilemma.”
Influential figures within Trump’s circle, such as Musk and Steve Bannon, continually encourage European populists to adopt more extreme stances on race, immigration, and cultural matters. Hard-liners often cite the success of the German far-right party AfD (Alternative for Germany), which secured its best results in recent elections. Musk notably endorsed AfD’s leader, Alice Weidel, and celebrated the outcome with a personal call to her.
In reality, the AfD failed to achieve the electoral success its leaders had hoped for. Although conditions seemed ripe for a populist upswing—with Germany facing economic stagnation and a car attack by an Afghan refugee right before the elections keeping immigration in public discourse—the AfD struggled to extend its reach beyond former East Germany. Other parties still refuse to engage with it in coalition discussions. By intervening in German politics, Trumpworld’s second-most powerful figure compromised his own business interests while providing little, if any, advantage to the AfD’s performance. According to Katwala, “Musk’s support brought nothing to the AfD. It harmed Tesla’s reputation in Germany while benefiting no one else.”
Ultimately, Trump’s core beliefs resonate with only a limited segment of European electorates. His stance on Ukraine is so unpopular within Europe that even leaders like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French far-right figure Marine Le Pen—who might naturally align with MAGA—have strategically distanced themselves from it.
As MAGA adopts more extreme views, supporters like Farage must assess how far they are willing to align with it—knowing that if they hesitate, their domestic competitors will not. Recently, the Reform leader experienced a fallout with one of his five MPs, triggered by none other than Musk in a dramatic unfolding on (where else?) X. Earlier this year, Trump’s “first buddy” publicly supported the provocateur Tommy Robinson, whom Musk credited for highlighting the so-called grooming gangs composed predominantly of British citizens of Pakistani descent who abused and trafficked girls across England. Yet Farage sees Robinson for who he truly is: a provocateur with numerous criminal convictions. When the Reform leader reiterated his long-standing refusal to allow Robinson into his party, Musk asserted that Farage “lacks the necessary resolve.”
Musk’s favored alternative for leading Reform was Rupert Lowe, a 67-year-old former chairman of a soccer club. Lowe currently represents the seaside town of Great Yarmouth in Parliament. However, his true passion lies in his posts on X. His financial disclosures reveal that he now earns around $4,000 a month from sharing provocative opinions on Musk’s social platform, and it seems that the attention has gone to his head. He recently told the Daily Mail that Farage views himself as a “Messiah” and warned that the Reform party risks becoming merely a “protest party” if its leader does not surround himself with capable individuals. Notably, shortly after this interview, Lowe faced suspension from Reform for alleged HR violations.
After being expelled from Farage’s party, Lowe has noticeably taken an even more extreme stance—something often seen in individuals who are too immersed in social media. He now advocates that the families of grooming-gang offenders be deported from Britain, not just the offenders themselves—potentially even targeting “entire communities” of British Pakistanis, whom he claims have ignored the issue. Surprisingly, he seems to have no concern for the white police officers and social workers who might be accused of similar negligence. Lowe asserts that his party leader attempted to prevent him from expressing such views, a claim I instinctively find credible; Farage, sometimes referred to as the father of Brexit, has effectively disrupted British politics because he understands when subtle cues are preferable to overt signals. He has a history of parting ways with individuals from his various parties when their rhetoric crosses the line into overt extremism, such as when he departed the U.K. Independence Party in 2018 after they appointed Robinson as an adviser.
According to Katwala, Farage possesses a winning strategy: take cues from the British media. “If the Mail and The Telegraph believe a candidate faces a racism problem, cut ties,” he advised, referencing two right-leaning newspapers. “But if it’s only the Guardian”—which is left-leaning—“you’re probably safe.” In contrast, in the U.S., such boundaries have disintegrated. The range of acceptable viewpoints, as Katwala pointed out, “extends all the way to the Proud Boys”—the far-right organization whose leader was imprisoned for his role in the Capitol insurrection and later pardoned by Trump.
Outside the United States, voters harbor an additional grievance against the MAGA movement: Trump and his allies frequently discuss other nations in ways that can be deeply off-putting. “America First”? Fair enough, but not “America believes your small country is a joke.” The damaging mix of Trump’s pro-Russia inclinations, Vice President J. D. Vance’s arrogance and condescension, and Musk’s extreme social media behavior has severely tarnished America’s standing among its historical allies.
The enthusiastic right-wing influencers cheering for MAGA’s audacious foreign policy should keep in mind that criticizing another country’s leaders is akin to criticizing someone else’s family. I can be critical of my sister, but you cannot. The Trump administration has resurrected the negative stereotypes Europeans held of Americans: too loud, too obnoxious, too overbearing. Vance, who lectures U.S. allies on managing their affairs, embodies every wealthy individual from suburban Pittsburgh visiting the Amalfi Coast, navigating pedestrian-free streets, and then complaining about pasta that’s too chewy and the lack of air conditioning in his 15th-century villa.
Consequently, even previously apathetic technocrats have shown newfound resolve when confronted with Trump administration insults. Thus far, the net impact of MAGA foreign policy has resulted in zero concessions from Moscow, while revitalizing Canada’s Liberal Party and benefiting mainstream center-right candidates in Greenland. The new Canadian Prime Minister, former central banker Mark Carney, successfully appealed to voter patriotism in countering Trump’s call to annex his nation and his imposing tariffs. “Americans should realize—be it in trade or hockey, Canada will prevail,” Carney asserted after assuming the Liberal leadership from Justin Trudeau. The Liberals managed to stifle the momentum of their opponent Pierre Poilievre by portraying him as a MAGA underling. “A person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him,” Carney remarked.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats, has also been invigorated. During a televised debate prior to the recent German elections, he criticized the AfD for soliciting support from the MAGA movement, branding his adversaries as unpatriotic. “The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic, drastic, and ultimately outrageous than those we’ve witnessed from Moscow,” he added.
Ben Ansell, a professor of politics at the University of Oxford, posits that MAGA’s overtures toward Moscow have armed Europe’s mainstream politicians with a potent attack line. “We might finally be witnessing a moment of hubris for the decade-long surge of populism,” he noted in a recent Substack post. When mainstream politicians target conservative populists, the latter can easily dismiss criticisms as the elite’s revenge. “But populists who align themselves with a recognized foreign adversary? That simplifies things. Now every choice made by the populist can be linked back to the foreign enemy.” In recent weeks, Farage’s approval ratings have noticeably declined.
“If you’re under direct attack from Trump and facing your own elections, it’s hard to envision achieving success by shouting: Yes, please,” Ansell expressed to me. Farage is evidently grappling with the challenge of aligning himself with MAGA while maintaining his domestic objectives.
Populist parties typically define themselves in opposition to the mainstream and the status quo, yet many of their members (and constituents) possess a range of eclectic and divergent opinions on economic matters and beyond. “These parties are more fragile than previously believed, and now there exists a tool that mainstream parties can utilize to fracture them—their ties to widely disliked figures,” Ansell shared with me. European voters have historically been cautious of Moscow’s motives. What’s novel is the growing perception that the current U.S. leadership has aligned itself with Russia and against Europe. “Vladimir Putin has been in the game for over twenty-five years,” Ansell stated. “It’s Musk and Trump now.”
Populists outside America may bask in the reflected glory of MAGA’s strength and triumphs, but aligning themselves with the Trump administration skews their perception among local audiences—tying them to an unpopular president, his unpopular celebrity advisor, his unpopular stance on Ukraine, and his unpopular bullying tactics. This encapsulates populists’ MAGA dilemma—and presents a unique opportunity for the mainstream to mount a counteroffensive.
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