Don’t meddle in our elections, EU’s Metsola tells Trump’s MAGA warriors
When U.S. officials start openly backing foreign candidates and “tilting” allied elections, our government exports a playbook of interference that corrodes democratic consent at home and abroad.
Feb 26, 2026
Sources
Summary
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned the U.S. White House that attempts to influence European politics are unwelcome and said EU citizens must decide elections “freely and fairly.”
American diplomats are operationalizing a White House National Security Strategy that openly aims to tilt European politics toward MAGA-aligned “patriotic” parties, as senior U.S. officials publicly endorse specific European leaders.
If this becomes normalized, elections abroad become another theater of state power—inviting retaliatory interference, eroding democratic legitimacy, and shrinking the space for voters to choose without coercive foreign pressure.
Reality Check
State-directed efforts to “tilt” allied elections weaponize U.S. power against the basic democratic right of voters—normalizing the idea that governments can pick each other’s leaders and making our own elections a fair target for retaliation. Public endorsements by U.S. officials may be politically corrosive without being plainly criminal, but coordinated governmental action to manipulate foreign electoral outcomes can collide with anti-corruption and national-security guardrails when it involves coercion, value exchange, or illicit channels. If U.S. personnel use official resources, intermediaries, or benefits to induce electoral outcomes, the exposure can run through federal bribery and honest-services frameworks (18 U.S.C. §§ 201, 1346), campaign finance prohibitions on foreign national involvement (52 U.S.C. § 30121), and misuse-of-office theories even when formal charges are unlikely. The core danger is institutional: once executive power is treated as a tool for partisan electioneering beyond our borders, we weaken the norms that keep our own elections free from state-sponsored manipulation.
Detail
<p>European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the European Union will not express a preference in the U.S. midterm elections in November and asked that the United States similarly refrain from influencing European elections. She pointed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s endorsement of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest ahead of Hungary’s April general election as an example of U.S. involvement in European politics.</p><p>Metsola said the EU wants citizens in all member countries to decide “freely and fairly” and that the EU must have tools to combat “external interference, or manipulation, or voter behavior.” Her remarks came as American diplomats implement a new White House National Security Strategy that includes a stated aim of tilting European politics toward MAGA priorities by supporting “patriotic” parties aligned with President Donald Trump on migration and social values.</p><p>Metsola also discussed shifting parliamentary alliances, upcoming European Parliament reorganization in early 2027, and separate EU issues including Ukraine financing and EU-U.K. defense cooperation.</p>