analysis
Proximity to Trump is becoming a risk for Europe’s right-wing parties: AfD, Meloni & Co. are pulling the ripcord and turning against the US President. The SVP chooses a different path.
04/22/2026, 06:12April 22, 2026, 06:26
Patrik Müller / ch media
The unpopular Iran war and Viktor Orbán’s deselection in Hungary lead to a right-wing turn away from the US president. Recently, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni distanced herself from Trump. During the Iran War, she refused to follow him and blocked the use of a Sicilian air base. Last week she called Trump’s attack on the Pope “unacceptable.” The US President reacted offended, as he saw Meloni as a “friend”.
The relationship is no longer as harmonious as it was: Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump in October 2025.Image: keystone
In Germany, the AfD was inclined towards Trump for a long time. Elon Musk joined a party event last year and described the AfD as the “last hope” for Germany. The party leadership saw Trump’s migration policy and his anti-wokeness course as a role model. Tempi passati. The AfD clearly rejects the Iran war and has reduced its contacts with Washington.
The mood is also changing in France and Northern Europe. Marine Le Pen condemns the war after sharply criticizing Trump’s Greenland plans. And in the elections in Denmark in March, the right-wing People’s Party demonstratively distanced itself from the US President.
Populists sense a change in mood
Trump has become toxic in European elections. This was evident in Hungary. Trump and JD Vance actively campaigned for Viktor Orbán – and did him more harm than good, as the British Financial Times reports. 85 percent of voters would have wanted a different relationship with the USA. Peter Magyar, a candidate who is by no means politically left-wing, won. He also relies on a strict migration policy and positions himself against wokeness. The difference: He is more oriented towards Europe than the USA and is not a friend of Putin.
Populist parties naturally react quickly to changes in mood. This year and next year there are elections in several European countries – some at the state level (Germany), some nationally (France). The parties have recognized that proximity to Trump is becoming a handicap.
Switzerland is no exception. In the voting battle over the SRG halving initiative, portraits of Trump and Musk suddenly appeared at train stations – on no posters. Their faces were intended to mobilize against the initiative, the campaign makers were certain: the two figures are hated in this country.
Trump enjoyed sympathy in right-wing conservative circles right up to the tariff hammer. SVP National Councilor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher said:
“Trump loves Switzerland.”
She recently admitted that she was mistaken about the US president. While the entrepreneur openly addresses her misjudgment, other party representatives remain silent.
For SVP the following applies again: Wädenswil instead of Washington
They do not publicly distance themselves, as other right-wing parties in Europe do, but instead ignore Trump. The silence is supposed to say: “We had nothing to do with Trump anyway.” That may be true for the party base, where, according to surveys, Trump was never able to gain a majority. But individual exponents such as Andreas Glarner, Thomas Matter and Franz Grüter stood out with positive statements about Trump.
Franz Grüter made several positive comments about Donald Trump and his policies.Image: KEYSTONE
Since January, however, there have been no more pro-Trump quotes. The tipping point was the WEF in Davos, when the Republican railed against Switzerland for minutes and declared that “without the USA, Switzerland would not exist”. It has been clear since that moment at the latest, says an SVP parliamentarian who does not want to be quoted:
«The SVP must not be associated with Trump. Otherwise it will harm us.”
That’s exactly why some people in the party are angry about ex-SVP National Councilor Roger Köppel’s “World Week”. The newspaper regularly pays homage to Trump and declared Viktor Orbán a hero. When asked about this on the TV political show “SonnTalk” at the weekend, SVP National Councilor Mauro Tuena evaded the issue – instead he pointed out that the SVP was winning election after election, most recently at municipal ballots in the canton of Zurich. Wädenswil instead of Washington, that’s what matters.
Still thinks Trump is great: Roger Köppel.Image: keystone
Party leader Christoph Blocher had always warned against associating with foreign right-wing politicians and parties; He once refused to stand next to an AfD politician in the “Arena”. The following generation of SVP leadership saw this less narrowly. But now that Trump and Orbán’s proximity could harm the party, Blocher’s line is making a comeback. Köppel confirms the exception week after week. (aargauerzeitung.ch)