Das nächste europäische Land im Visier von Trump für eine Maga-Umgestaltung

[Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?srsltid=AfmBOorhFG3qZiUaVkCfc8eDQizSGl340BKNDoVye5Ku8iC6rj-Q9sYs&ico=in-line_link) is suddenly looking very lonely on this side of the Atlantic.

In April, Hungary turfed out the US President’s major conservative ally in Europe. At the Nato summit earlier this month, [Trump alienated even Giorgia Meloni](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trump-losing-allies-influence-europe-time-runs-out-4632093?ico=in-line_link), Italy’s ideologically aligned prime minister, in a spat over a photo. And now, after over a year of [belittling and threatening America’s European allies](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/europe-shorthand-everything-maga-despises-home-4463487?srsltid=AfmBOoqdyvDF8xU6uEVHVQQZ9BykzlogalalPilvGW1lWRRj8FhBeLjD&ico=in-line_link), even traditionally close nations like Germany are openly criticising him – knowing that their publics largely dislike him.

Yet Trump and Maga are not throwing in the towel when it comes to [their declared project](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/europe-shorthand-everything-maga-despises-home-4463487?srsltid=AfmBOooVF8_DWRnBUAUcIuKpQQV9cYN-9HqBuoUsqqZpMwNbwT7NZocA&ico=in-line_link) of “restoring Europe’s civilisational self-confidence and Western identity” through spreading their own conservative values. The US still has one major cheerleader on the continent.

Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, is culturally aligned with the right-wing ideology promoted by Trump’s White House. While he ran as an independent, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which was in power from 2015 to 2023, backs him.

As President, Nawrocki does not run the government of Poland, which is led by the more liberal [Donald Tusk and his Civic Coalition](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/eight-years-conservative-rule-poland-end-2690989?srsltid=AfmBOorjnwDQQd-eIufQ3yjuTuTwOUXWYbnFKOYTIlyUum5wZgbIk9Z2&ico=in-line_link). However, the President has sway over foreign and defence policy and holds important powers of blocking and shaping it through appointments and vetoes. He is trying to expand the currently limited powers of the presidency.

In an echo of Trump’s America First agenda, Nawrocki came to office under the slogan “Poland First! The Polish People First!” and shares a similarly restrictive outlook on immigration, civil rights and women’s healthcare.

The former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán supported similar white Christian nationalist politics and was a regular speaker at the Trump-aligned CPAC conference. JD Vance even travelled to Budapest to support him during this year’s election campaign. [His defeat marked a blow for Maga](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/putin-lose-european-puppet-this-what-will-cost-him-4350556?srsltid=AfmBOopwRFoCnWiaCfXoqFLYTjF-HXiNt7j4eTE6mWzRrK4gScaxw8ty&ico=in-line_link), which had counted on him to spread its social and cultural values in Europe.

# Trump’s ties to Poland’s president

Now Trump’s support is helping to spearhead this far-right resurgence in Poland. [Trump openly supported Nawrocki’s election](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/poland-election-trump-karol-nawrocki-3727467?srsltid=AfmBOooUzmDDblFOaYSxMID4roQiftebTPdGuvNfNU_NH5-Q6LNQLtgY&ico=in-line_link), welcoming him to the Oval Office even before his win and so breaking a convention of not interfering in allied countries’ democracies.

Their connection has only deepened in recent months, with Nawrocki accepting a personal invitation from Trump to attend his 4 July birthday fight at the White House, a decision the head of Nawrocki’s International Policy Bureau attributed to the countries’ “shared values.”

Nawrocki was the only sitting head of state to attend March’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas. He will speak at this weekend’s inaugural CPAC Great Britain. The US has escalated its pro-conservative agenda in Europe, announcing that it would provide up to $5m (£3.7m) to European civil society groups that “address national sovereignty, migration, censorship, and lawfare challenges in line with our shared political philosophy, law, and Western heritage”.

Nawrocki’s movement is throwing its support behind the White House’s agenda, trying to pivot the country to align with these views on sovereignty and migration in particular. Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PiS, backed Poland joining Trump’s so-called Board of Peace to rule Gaza, asking the government to pay the $1 billion fee, claiming Poland “must be on the best possible terms with the United States”. The government refused, saying the country should not become a “vassal” of the US.

Nawrocki’s spokesman also criticised the speaker of Poland’s parliament for refusing to support Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and saying that he did not deserve the award.