Press reports often portray Europeans and others overseas as apprehensive when not downright fearful of President Donald Trump. But Trump’s victory has cemented a global alliance of populists, conservatives, and even libertarians who hope a “Trump effect” will sweep away entrenched institutions long controlled by the Left.
Indeed, Trump’s rapid-fire activity since taking office fills them with a mixture of hope and envy. At a summit of populist conservative leaders in Madrid last weekend, prime ministers and opposition leaders called Trump a “brother in arms,” a phrase often repeated, whose lessons they will draw.
That is because many of their constituents have been following events stateside. Europeans I have talked to know what executive orders are, and how they differ from acts of Congress, almost as well as any American. They already knew about the U.S. Agency for International Development (indeed, better than many Americans) because it is overseas that USAID imposes the rules of woke America on transgenderism, abortion, climate, and race.
There is almost a sense of awe. Politicians and voters alike watch Trump dispatch one agency after another with executive orders or eliminate programs such as diversity, equity, and inclusion and sense that there is a political tidal wave building on the other side of the Atlantic—one that, many hope, will soon make it across to them.
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