Keeping their distance Populists in a tight spot over support for Trump

Europe's rightwing populist parties are split over how far to distance themselves from Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine, with some fearing solidarity with the US president's brand of nationalism will damage their efforts to widen their domestic support.

- By Patrick Wintour

Broadly, unease over Trump's treatment of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the ominous encroach of authoritarianism by the new US administration, is strongest among the populist parties in western Europe and some Nordic countries.

By contrast in eastern Europe, where parts of the electorate view Russia sympathetically, support for Trump remains undimmed. There are already tentative signs that governments in countries where leaders have taken a pro-Ukrainian line are enjoying a modest boost in support.

For instance, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Social Democrat prime minister, who has clashed with Trump by defending Greenland's sovereignty and backing arms for Ukraine, is enjoying her highest poll rating in a year.

In the UK, Keir Starmer has enjoyed a mini revival, while a YouGov poll shows over half of Reform party voters (53%) view Trump unfavourably, an increase of 25 points.

Prof William Hurst, a co-director at the Centre for Geopolitics, said: "Some of the populists' disorientation is that their focus is on domestic issues to leverage novel coalitions.