Donald Trump wants to soften his relations with Europe. But not with the entire continent, but with its far-right allies. To do this, it has trusted the figure of Samuel Samsonthe senior adviser to the US State Department, who for much of the last year has been cultivating ties with European far-right parties, strengthening their presence and spreading their ideas.
As stated Last March, Samson was in London for , with whom he discussed issues such as abortion and censorship. In May, he went to Paris to try to convince a human rights commission that the French Marine Le Pen had been unjustly persecuted. Magali Lafourcade, who directs that organization, assures that “they were looking for elements that could give credibility to this narrative.”
However, it does not seem that Samson’s steps have had much effect. Le Pen remains declassified to run for president. The Hungarian Prime Minister, , has lost the elections after 16 years in power. AND, “They see the association with Trump as a burden rather than an asset.”
“Europe has become a hotbed of digital censorship, mass migration, restrictions on religious freedom and numerous other attacks against democratic self-management,” wrote Mr. Samson in an essay published on his social networks and consulted by the media, which gives a glimpse of what his ideals are.
The media has collected the testimony of people who have shared time and moments with President Trump’s advisor. Some of the facets that stand out:
- He has been religious since he was young. During a talk in 2013, he talked about having “a personal and active faith in God, a social conscience that drives action.”
- Upon arriving at the White House, one of the officials assures the newspaper that he arrived “shooting shots” and that he sought to give a voice to Christians and conservatives.
- Another official said Mr Samson instructed staff to think about how to punish the European Union for restricting freedom of expression. Another former office official said Samson spent three months assessing whether EU technology regulations had led to what he called “censorship.”
- Nor, say officials, does he like the concept of “human rights” because it is “a radical expression of a political ideology created by human beings.”
