U.S. President Donald Trump may, or may not, have been joking when he promised to be dictator for a day or when he called himself “the king” or when he asserted that he is above the law or even when he has teased about seeking a third term. But in his first weeks in the White House, a contest has emerged over whether Trump will defend democracy abroad or dismiss it. In two cases, he has tilted against democracy, and in one, he has championed it. The distinguishing feature seems to be, not commitment to democracy, but commitment to leaders that align with Trump’s vision.
The U.S. spent the Biden administration turning a blind eye to the disintegration of democracy in Ukraine. Though Biden promoted the war in Ukraine as “the great battle for freedom: a battle between democracy and autocracy,” he simultaneously said that “Ukraine isn’t ready for NATO membership” because Ukraine had “qualifications that need to be met, including democratization.” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has signed legislation that banned opposition parties, limited freedom of the press and of free speech, and limited religious freedom and linguistic and cultural rights.
But Trump has taken America from spectator to participant by interfering in Ukrainian politics. According to U.S. officials, Trump has made it clear to his team that he “wants Zelensky to make some movement toward elections in Ukraine and possibly toward stepping down as his country’s leader.”
And he is doing more than just talking to his team. Members of his team “have held secret discussions with some of Kyiv’s top political opponents to Volodymyr Zelensky.” And it is not just because Trump feels that elections in Ukraine are overdue. The talks have been about holding “quick presidential elections.” And because “Trump aides are confident that Zelensky would lose any vote,” those discussions focus on the possibility of removing Zelensky.
Ukraine is not the only country in whose politics the Trump administration has interfered. Elon Musk, a powerful Trump advisor, who recently posted that “Ukraine needs to hold an election. Zelensky would lose by a landslide,” interfered in the German elections by openly endorsing the Alternative for Germany (AfD). In an opinion piece in the German media, Musk then wrote that “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country.” At February’s Munich Security Conference, Vice-President J.D. Vance intervened on behalf of the AfD by implying that Germany drop their objections to working with the far-right party. He then met with AfD party leader Alice Weidel.
Perhaps Trump and Musk have reduced USAID and the NED, who have done what the CIA used to do by financing democracy promotion in other countries because those agencies have become redundant with the Trump administration doing openly what USAID and NED have done clandestinely.
But while they have seemingly interfered in Ukrainian and German electoral politics, the Trump administration has vociferously objected as democracy has died in Romania.
In November 2024, Călin Georgescu, who has been described as “Moscow friendly,” European Union unfriendly and as a “NATO critic,” shocked everyone when he won the first round of Romania’s election. In December, the Romanian courts annulled his victory, citing evidence free and remarkably weak claims of Russian interference in support of his campaign, and cancelled the second round runoff vote.
Georgescu was then arrested, again on evidence free or unclear charges, for “incitement to actions against the constitutional order,” the “communication of false information” and involvement in the establishment of an organization “with a fascist, racist or xenophobic character.”
On March 9, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau rendered its decision to block Georgescu from participating in Romania’s election, ironically, on the grounds that he “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”. Two days later, Georgescu lost his final appeal as Romania’s Constitutional Court unanimously ruled against him.
Zelensky has become an obstacle to Trump’s agenda, while the AfD aligns with Trump’s and Musk’s vision. Whether the Trump administration has interfered for or against them matches those alignments.
Georgescu may also align more neatly with Trump’s world view. And while the EU has done nothing to defend Romania’s democracy, the Trump administration, this time, has. At the same Munich Security Conference that Vance seemingly interfered in Germany’s democracy, he came to the defense of Romania’s, saying that “Romania straight up canceled the results of a presidential election based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.”
Biden was an ideological cold warrior who presented the façade of a foreign policy based on democracy versus autocracy; Trump is transactional pragmatist who has ripped away the façade and appears to interfere in democracy or defend it in pursuit of partners who advance, not the American ideal of democracy, but American interest.
Ted Snider is a regular columnist on U.S. foreign policy and history at Antiwar.com and The Libertarian Institute. He is also a frequent contributor to Responsible Statecraft and The American Conservative as well as other outlets. To support his work or for media or virtual presentation requests, contact him at tedsnider@bell.net.
