Trump Is A 'Budding Authoritarian,' He Feels Natural Affinity With Authoritarians Abroad, Foreign Policy Expert Says

Even as an election looms closer to home, former President Donald Trump remains clued into the electoral fortunes of his overseas allies and affairs happening abroad, Politico reported.

Trump and his aides are striving to expand the “America First style of right-wing populism” overseas by giving a “MAGA stamp of approval” to conservative candidates and forging partnerships with right-wing movements, the report said.

When Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro narrowly trailed his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva in recent presidential polls, Trump came out in support of Bolsonaro on the Truth Social platform, owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, which is set to merge with Special Purpose Acquisition Company Digital World Acquisition Corp. DWAC.

Trump congratulated Bolsonaro for outperforming “Fake News Media” polls and expressed confidence that he would win in the run-off polls, scheduled for Oct. 30.

Trump previously provided a video endorsement for Bolsonaro, which was shot on his private plane while he was returning from a rally in Michigan, Politico said. The Brazilian president’s son reportedly acknowledged that this contributed to his father’s better-than-expected showing.

Trump has also recently warned about the implication of U.S. policy toward Taiwan and has spoken positively about North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, the report said, adding that his allies see these as part of building his own “political brand.”

“Trump is a budding authoritarian and he feels a natural affinity with other actual or aspiring authoritarians abroad. Some call it the Illiberal International,” Max Boot, a foreign policy expert, said, according to Politico.

These leaders are united by their endorsement of nationalism and xenophobia and rejection of liberal democracy, science, and even reason, Boot said.

Photo: Courtesy of Palácio do Planalto on flickr