Trump's ideological landing in Europe. The 27-year-old from the State Department wants to “punish” the EU

27-year-old US State Department official Alex Samson is one of the architects of President Donald Trump's administration's policy of supporting the far right in Europe – writes the New York Times on Friday. The diplomat had, among other things, meet with AfD politicians and support Marine Le Pen.

As “NYT” writes, Samson is a former assistant to Senator Ted Cruz and a member of the American Moment organization, which is close to Vice President JD Vance. He formally serves as senior advisor to the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, although internally he renamed the unit the “Office of Natural Rights” due to his disagreement with the concept of human rights.

He was to be primarily responsible for Washington's policy of supporting the far right and criticizing European regulations for most of 2025, when Sarah Rogers took over as US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.

Of Filipino descent, Samson was known for his religious fervor and was considered the perfect candidate for the role due to his commitment to Christianity, opposition to censorship and European politics. When he took office, he allegedly told office workers that he intended to “give a voice to Christians and conservatives.” He also allegedly instructed employees to come up with ways to “punish” the European Union for limiting freedom of speech.

“NYT” describes Samson's travels and meetings, among others. with Alternative for Germany MPs Beatrix von Storch and Joachim Paul, during which politicians expressed their concerns about the possible banning of the party, and American diplomats condemned social media regulations and censorship of conservatives.

In March 2025, Samson was in London for a secret breakfast with Nigel Farage, a British right-wing populist, to discuss the issue of abortion and censorship. In May, he was in Paris trying to convince the human rights commission that Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader convicted of embezzling funds from the European Parliament, was being unfairly persecuted.

After the meeting, the head of the commission, Magali Lafourcade, allegedly reported it to the French authorities as “potential foreign interference.”

The daily writes that in many cases Samson was intended to “shock” with his criticism of European politicians and leaders. During the meeting with Reporters Without Borders, he had, among others: recognize that France is “gradually becoming North Korea.”

The countries visited by the young diplomat also included Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic. The newspaper also describes the trip of Samson and Rogers – whose rhetoric and support for the far right has also been controversial – with British diplomats in London last December.

During the meeting, Rogers sharply criticized the level of migration in the UK, accusing migrants of fueling the crime wave, although official data shows that crime in the UK has fallen over the last 10 years. She criticized British police for arresting a comedian who criticized activists for transgender rights. She also allegedly told diplomats that they themselves knew that there was “something wrong with the British system.”

– Jaws dropped – commented one of the participants.

However, “NYT” emphasizes that US policy has so far brought few concrete results – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lost the election, Le Pen is still excluded from the elections – and due to Trump's unpopularity on the continent, right-wing parties are trying to distance themselves from the United States.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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