Even far-right foreign leaders are getting sick of Trump’s meddling

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/16/trump-canada-europe-politics/

Naturally, the leaders Trump likes best are those who flatter him and imitate him the most: He has referred to Bolsonaro as the “Tropical Trump” and Johnson as the “Britain Trump.” But just because Trump likes certain leaders doesn’t mean that their rule is in the U.S. interest. Orban, for example, is not just an authoritarian leader; he is also close to both Russia and China and hostile to Ukraine. The Western alliance would benefit from his defeat in April. The problem is that Trump is pursuing his personal political agenda, not the agenda of the United States as traditionally understood by presidents of both parties.

By aligning the U.S. with individual leaders, Trump also risks making an enemy of the political opposition in their countries — and thereby inviting a backlash. This has already happened in Canada. Last year, Trump all but endorsed Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in a bizarre social media post implying that Poilievre (whom he did not mention by name) would help to make Canada the 51st state and thereby see a lifting of U.S. tariffs. An appalled Poilievre told Trump to “stay out of our election,” but the damage was done: Liberal Party leader Mark Carney won in a landslide.

A president who zealously guards America’s sovereignty should show more respect for the sovereignty of other countries. Trump should stop treating foreign elections as if they were Republican Party primaries, where he can dictate the outcome (often to the detriment of the party’s general election prospects). Instead, he would do well to heed Lord Palmerston’s timeless dictum: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”