For some abroad, four more years of Trump sounds pretty good
| Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, Berlin, Amman, Jordan, and Tel Aviv, Israel
A man on a sunshine-yellow bicycle weaves his way through traffic, pulling a sign that reads, 鈥淭RUMP 2020 KEEP AMERICA GREAT.鈥� From the shade of a Stars and Stripes marquee, participants wait for the event to begin, lauding the U.S. president鈥檚 commitment to family values and his support for the economy.
But this is not just another standard Donald Trump campaign rally. It is taking place, on a recent Saturday afternoon, in a working-class district of Mexico City and few of the attendees have a vote in the U.S. election.
The drama of the U.S. election campaign has gripped onlookers around the world, and divided them. Generally speaking, President Trump is not popular outside the United States. His 鈥淎merica First鈥� rhetoric, his disdain for traditional allies, his apparent soft spot for foreign autocrats, and his sudden policy lurches have earned him a poor reputation internationally.
Why We Wrote This
Despite his broad unpopularity around the world, Donald Trump is not without his international supporters. What is it about the U.S. president that earns the respect and approval of non-Americans?
Yet he does enjoy pockets of support from many sorts of people all around the world, from Chinese dissidents to Arab sheikhs, from Russian politicians to Mexican workers. While some simply appreciate the gains that his tenure has brought to their countries, others speak of his policies and 鈥� perhaps most commonly 鈥� his restraint from launching the U.S. into new military conflicts as reasons for their admiration.
Christopher Alva, who organized the Mexico City meeting, was hoping to persuade people to urge their relatives in the United States to vote for Mr. Trump because he鈥檚 supported so many Mexican Americans during the pandemic in the U.S. And because 鈥渉e brings strong values, a lot of discipline to his leadership,鈥� Mr. Alva says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really decisive in his actions.鈥�
And he鈥檚 been good for Mexico, argues Hernan Dominguez Juarez, a former state-level teachers union organizer. The Trump administration has doubled the number of temporary farmworker visas issued each year, and remittances sent home by Mexican migrants have risen almost 50% since Mr. Trump took office.
鈥淭hose with family members living and working in the U.S. feel like their family is better taken care of under Trump,鈥� says Mr. Dominguez.
鈥淗e helps us fight China鈥�
The U.S. flags on display at Mr. Alva鈥檚 rally also appeared in profusion last year in Hong Kong, as hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators rallied against Beijing鈥檚 encroachment on the territory鈥檚 autonomy. And the protesters made no secret of whom they were primarily appealing to for help as they brandished his portrait: Mr. Trump.
The president鈥檚 tough stance on China 鈥� sanctioning Beijing for espionage, human rights abuses, and unfair trade practices 鈥� meant that 鈥渢he overall impression of Trump was pretty positive and strong,鈥� says Kenneth Chan, who teaches politics at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Pro-Trump euphoria reached new heights last Thanksgiving when the president signed the long-awaited Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which requires Washington to sanction Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials who violate human rights.
Thousands rallied that night on the shore of Victoria Harbor, some holding banners depicting Mr. Trump riding a tank and others waving images of his head pasted onto Sylvester Stallone鈥檚 鈥淩ocky鈥� torso.
鈥淒onald Trump is the greatest president in the world,鈥� exclaimed a young worker. 鈥淗e helps us fight China.鈥�
For similar reasons, some prominent Chinese dissidents are also Trump fans: blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who fled China via the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in 2012, praised his anti-China stand at this year鈥檚 Republican National Convention.
The Chinese government has remained neutral in public, but nationalist commentators on Chinese websites have suggested that a Trump victory would be good for China since his policies serve to unite the Chinese people and undermine the Western alliance system curbing Beijing.
He is known in such circles as 鈥淐huan Jianguo鈥� or 鈥淏uild-the-Country鈥� Trump 鈥� a patriotic nickname suggesting that Mr. Trump is aiding China鈥檚 rise.聽
Disappointment in Russia
When news of Mr. Trump鈥檚 victory in 2016 reached Moscow, the Russian Duma (parliament) famously erupted in a spontaneous standing ovation. Candidate Trump had said he wanted to 鈥済et along鈥� with President Vladimir Putin, and according to U.S. intelligence agencies the Kremlin had actively worked for his election.
Today, expectations are lower and indifference more widespread. Just 16% of focus group subjects say they prefer Mr. Trump to Joe Biden (9%), according to Denis Volkov at the Levada Center, Russia鈥檚 only independent pollster. That鈥檚 down from 38% for Mr. Trump in 2016.
鈥淭here is far less hope than before ... that anything will change in the U.S.-Russia relationship,鈥� he says.
The Kremlin, like Beijing, might see an advantage in Mr. Trump鈥檚 disdain for Western alliances such as NATO, writes Tanya Stanovaya in a recent paper published by the Carnegie Moscow Center. Among the security services, she suggests, 鈥渨hat鈥檚 important is that his contradictory and destructive policies make the United States more exposed and fragile, which gives Russia freer rein.鈥�
But Mr. Trump has disappointed his erstwhile supporters in Moscow, says Sergei Markov, a former adviser to President Putin. 鈥淎ll the hopes he raised in Russians were dashed. More sanctions, more tensions, less arms control, and almost no diplomatic dialogue is what we have today. But no one in Moscow has any hopes about Biden either.鈥� Mr. Putin criticized him earlier this month for his 鈥渁nti-Russia rhetoric.鈥�
鈥淭he feeling in Moscow is that if Trump cannot pull Moscow out of its spiral of confrontation with the United States, no one can,鈥� adds Ms. Stanovaya.
鈥淭he choice of patriots against globalization鈥�
Europe is home to one of only three world leaders to openly endorse Mr. Trump 鈥� Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who proudly calls his government an 鈥渋lliberal democracy.鈥� (The other two are also populist autocrats, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.)
French President Emmanuel Macron emphatically is not one of them, though he did try to make nice with Mr. Trump early in his term. But the American president is deeply unpopular in France except among extreme right-wing voters, with whom he is merely less unpopular. A recent Pew Research poll found that 28% of Marine Le Pen鈥檚 鈥淣ational Rally鈥� voters supported Mr. Trump; only 6% of non-RN voters did.
One of them is Wallerand de Saint-Just, who is also treasurer of the National Rally party and who shares and admires Mr. Trump鈥檚 protectionist, nationalist outlook. 鈥淛oe Biden seems very weak ... compared to Trump鈥檚 huge amount of energy,鈥� he says.
Another RN figure, European Parliament member J茅r么me Rivi猫re, likes Mr. Trump鈥檚 anti-globalization stand. 鈥淭rump is the choice of patriots against globalization,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t has an influence on our voters because it shows we are not alone, that others in power share the same ideas.鈥�
Most importantly, he adds, President Trump has not sent soldiers abroad to fight in a new war. For decades, 鈥渆ach president has been involved in a war,鈥� Mr. Rivi猫re says, 鈥渋mposed his vision of how things should work elsewhere. But not Trump. This is a notable aspect [of his presidency] and it should be congratulated.鈥�
MAGA auf Deutsch
That is a key consideration, too, for Benjamin Wolfmeier in neighboring Germany, another country scarred by warfare. Mr. Trump 鈥渋s the first president in 40 years not to start a new war,鈥� says Mr. Wolfmeier, a service manager for a Finnish elevator company in Hannover.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 good for Germany, good for everyone in the world,鈥� he adds.
Mr. Wolfmeier, who likes to pin a Trump 2020 button to his jacket and wear a red MAGA baseball cap, is an average conservative. Half American (though not registered to vote in U.S. elections), he was once a member of Democrats Abroad.
Then 鈥渢he party turned very left under Obama, especially on issues like abortion, immigration, and guns,鈥� he says, and now he volunteers as communications director for Republicans Abroad in Germany.
Trump supporters in Germany are generally 鈥渜uieter鈥� than Democrats, Mr. Wolfmeier says. But the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is not shy about its support for the U.S. president. Its leaders were among the first German politicians to congratulate Mr. Trump in 2016.
It is Mr. Trump鈥檚 straight talk about 鈥淎merica First鈥� that resonates most deeply with Armin-Paulus Hampel, an AfD member of the European Parliament. 鈥淭rump has recognized with clear eyes that multilateral relations have failed,鈥� says Mr. Hampel, whose website boasts a section entitled 鈥淕ermany First.鈥� 鈥淎nd as a German politician I have to accept this and then figure out what German interests are.鈥�
鈥淲hy would you change chickens?鈥�
Israeli politicians do not face that challenge: Mr. Trump has aligned U.S. interests almost completely with the Israeli government鈥檚 interests. A June poll by the Israeli Democracy Institute found that 56% of respondents (75% of right-wing voters) thought a Trump victory would serve Israel better than Mr. Biden.
Mr. Trump鈥檚 unstinting support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was epitomized by U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel鈥檚 capital and its acceptance of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1973.
鈥淭rump is a major prize for the Israeli people,鈥� says Zion Vasika, who works for the municipality in Netivot in southern Israel. 鈥淚f you have a chicken that lays golden eggs, why would you change chickens?鈥�
The recent White House-brokered peace accords between Israel and two Gulf states, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have reinforced Mr. Trump鈥檚 positive image. 鈥淗e is one of the most important leaders there ever was in the United States when it comes to Israel and the Jews,鈥� says Yosef Ben-Hor, standing behind the counter of his dry-cleaning business in Tel Aviv.
Israel鈥檚 new friends in the Gulf 鈥渟ee us as a force for good in the region,鈥� says Mr. Ben-Hor. 鈥淲e have the backs of those countries that are also threatened by Iran and other extremists.鈥�
Trump in the Gulf
Indeed, few are rooting harder, albeit discreetly, for Mr. Trump than the Arab monarchs in the Gulf who have developed close personal ties with him since he attended a summit in the Saudi Arabian capital in 2017, his first overseas trip.
鈥淭rump has been unpredictable, inconsistent at times, rude at times, but he reached out to Gulf leaders early and has a personal affinity with them,鈥� says Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati professor of politics. 鈥淭hey are more than happy with four more years of Trump.鈥�
The U.S. leader鈥檚 hard line against Iran, which Gulf states see as their greatest threat, has made him popular in the region, and he went out on a limb to protect de facto Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman, vetoing congressional sanctions in the wake of the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, even his detractors express relief that Mr. Trump has not launched any military action in the region. 鈥淭he best thing is the fact that Mr. Trump is a businessman, and businessmen don鈥檛 like wars,鈥� says Mohammed Husseini, a Jordanian lawyer. 鈥淔our years, and he hasn鈥檛 started a single war in our region.鈥�
Mr. Husseini also says he respects Mr. Trump鈥檚 leadership style. 鈥淚 wish we had a strong leader who could stand up on the world stage and push our interests and pressure other countries for our economic benefit.鈥�
Ann Scott Tyson in Seattle contributed reporting to this article.
