Politics
Global Right-Wing Leaders Revel in a Renewed Fight, Supercharged by Trump
To longstanding American allies in Europe, remarks by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance about Ukraine and Germany this month represented one of the gravest tests of the postwar order in decades.
But to a cohort of current and former world leaders who gathered this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, they represented something else: the dawning of a global right-wing resurgence that, thanks to Mr. Trump’s re-election, is on the cusp of irrevocably transforming that order.
“We missed the first American Revolution in 1776,” said Liz Truss, the Conservative member of Parliament who briefly served as Britain’s prime minister. “We want to be a part of the second American Revolution.”
Ms. Truss was one of more than half a dozen political figures from as many countries to make the pilgrimage to CPAC this week in Oxon Hill, Md., just outside Washington. A long-running gathering of American conservatives that helped foment right-wing insurgencies within the G.O.P. during the Tea Party and Trump eras, CPAC has in recent years taken these ambitions global. The conference now serves as a connector of right-wing political movements in the Americas, Europe and Asia that increasingly see themselves as allies in a linked struggle against the institutions and geopolitical norms that have dominated world affairs since World War II.
In the past two weeks, Mr. Trump and his top officials have questioned that order more directly and openly than any U.S. administration of the postwar period.
Marco Rubio, Mr. Trump’s secretary of state, met for more than four hours on Tuesday with Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to reset the relationship between the two global powers and seek a path to end the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Mr. Trump called the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a “dictator” and blamed him for Russia’s 2022 invasion of his country.
And the Riyadh meeting came days after Mr. Vance, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, likened the European Union’s policing of online speech to Soviet censorship. He also met with the leader of Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany party, which had long been marginalized for some members’ embrace of neo-Nazi slogans and for its links to a recent coup plot.
Mr. Vance defended his Munich speech at his own CPAC appearance on Thursday, as did a parade of international allies who took the stage after him.
The standard-bearers of right-wing political movements around the world — prime ministers from North Macedonia and Slovakia, opposition leaders from Poland and Spain — welcomed Mr. Trump as a transformational figure in a battle against liberalism that transcended nations and continents.
They cast their domestic enemies — judges, online speech constraints, civil society programs and mainstream news organizations — as part of an international project to suppress traditional values, religion and free markets, and hailed the new American president as an ally in turning the tide against them.
“He’s completely changing the international picture,” Balázs Orbán, the political director for the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who is no relation, said in an interview at the conference.
In his speech on Thursday, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker and a son of the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was charged this week with attempting a coup to stay in power after losing the 2022 election, described his country as “a laboratory” that was “being used as a testing ground for the judicial weaponization against conservatives, libertarians and Christians — always under the pretense of protecting democracy.”
In particular, the foreign delegations at CPAC celebrated the effort being led by Elon Musk to eliminate the United States Agency for International Development and the civil society programs it funds around the world.
Such programs have enjoyed broad bipartisan backing for years in the United States, and similar support in the European Union, which has joined the United States in financing independent news media, rule-of-law programs and, more recently, efforts to curb online misinformation around the world. But these efforts have incensed the ascendant right-wing parties, which have often run afoul of them.
Mr. Bolsonaro, in his speech, accused U.S.A.I.D. of “channeling resources into censorship, judicial overreach and political persecution.”
Mr. Musk’s abrupt embrace of these grievances against the American development agency reflects the growing influence of the global right on the American right — a connection commemorated at CPAC when President Javier Milei of Argentina, who has become a celebrity on the American right, bounded onstage to present Mr. Musk with the chain saw he had wielded theatrically during his 2023 presidential campaign.
This year’s CPAC was perhaps the fullest fruition yet of the vision of right-wing solidarity that some in Mr. Trump’s political orbit, most notably his onetime White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon, tried to foment during the first Trump administration.
Mr. Bannon, who spoke at CPAC on Thursday, threatened to fracture the coalition, however, raising his hand briefly at the end of his speech in what appeared to many to be a reference to a Nazi salute — a gesture that recalled a similar salute by Mr. Musk at Mr. Trump’s inauguration rally last month.
Mr. Bannon’s gesture, which he denied was a Nazi reference, prompted Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, to cancel his planned CPAC speech on Friday. In a statement, he said he had made the decision “immediately” after seeing Mr. Bannon make a “gesture referring to Nazi ideology.”
But another international speaker on the Friday program, the Mexican actor and political activist Eduardo Verástegui, leaned into Mr. Bannon’s provocation, raising his arm in a similar salute at the conclusion of his own speech.
Speaking on Thursday, the British politician Nigel Farage, among the first from abroad to make connections with the right wing of the Republican Party in the Obama years, remarked on how far the right had come since.
“How amazing it is — 13 years ago, I was the only foreign speaker” at CPAC, said Mr. Farage, who was a key figure in the Brexit campaign of 2016, an early victory in the global right-wing resurgence.
Other speakers had followed Mr. Farage’s lead in crusading against the European Parliament and European Union bureaucracy, which they cast as part of the global network of institutions biased against their movement.
“My government was punished for standing up to Brussels,” said Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland from 2017 to 2023, when his right-wing Law and Justice Party was ousted from power by Civic Platform, a center-right party.
Mr. Orbán, the Hungarian official, whose government has been a model to many like-minded political activists in the global right, said right-wing political movements were less naturally predisposed to cooperate than liberal movements. But he argued that increasingly shared interests — blocking immigration, centering Christianity in public life and skepticism of the war in Ukraine — were drawing the disparate movements together.
“It’s complicated, because if you are a national conservative, it means that you want the best for your country, and your country’s national interests can be confrontational with other countries’ national interests,” he said. “But we still have to do it, try to identify the shared points — and now there are many, many points.”
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An anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agitator was hit with federal charges after gnarly photos showed bloody bite marks he allegedly made into federal agents’ arms during violent clashes outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey.
Brendan John Geier, a 26-year-old man from Madison, New Jersey, was part of a group of agitators blocking the road near Delaney Hall on Thursday night when ICE deportation officers instructed the group to move away, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The group allegedly ignored the commands and instead violently engaged with the officers, according to the DOJ. Geier then “engaged in a struggle with deportation officers, kicking officers and ultimately biting an officer’s forearm, and another’s knuckle. Both victims received treatment at a local hospital,” prosecutors said. He was charged with assaulting federal officers and causing bodily injury and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cari Fais on Friday, the DOJ said.
“We will not tolerate the vicious attacks on ICE officers we’ve seen in New Jersey the last few days. These riots are clearly not ‘peaceful protests’ as you can see from the photos of these horrific wounds. Assault a federal officer, you’ll be held accountable,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a Friday afternoon post on X.
NEW JERSEY AGITATORS BITE, KICK AND PUNCH ICE AGENTS AS DELANEY HALL CLASHES CONTINUE; 9 MORE ARRESTED: DHS
Blanche posted to X photos of bloodied ICE agents displaying their wounds.
Immigration agents display bloody wounds they allegedly incurred when New Jersey man Brendan John Geier bit them. May 28, 2026. (U.S. Department of Justice)
“Peaceful protest doesn’t translate to violently attacking federal law enforcement officers,” Blanche said in a statement. “Federal officers are protecting United States’ property and facilities. With virtually no local law enforcement support from New Jersey, rioters are regrouping and attacking. We will not tolerate the vicious attacks we have seen in Newark the last few days, and we will make arrests and hold people accountable for criminal conduct.”
“As alleged in the Justice Department’s complaint, this violent rioter savagely bit an ICE law enforcement officer outside of Delaney Hall. The Trump Administration will always stand with our law enforcement officers,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also added in the statement. “Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
ANTI-ICE AGITATORS THROW WOODEN PALLETS, MATTRESSES AT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING CHAOTIC NJ DETENTION CENTER CLASH
Federal immigration officers clashed with protesters outside Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J., on Thursday. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)
“As alleged, this defendant responded to lawful orders from federal officers by kicking one and biting two others who were performing their official duties,” U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer for the District of New Jersey also said in the statement. “Assaulting law enforcement officers is unacceptable. Period. Federal officers must be able to carry out their responsibilities without being subjected to violence, intimidation, or obstruction. This Office will continue to prosecute those who, as alleged here, assault officers and interfere with the lawful execution of their duties.”
“To be clear, peaceful protest does not mean biting, kicking, or punching law enforcement officers,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark added in the statement.
“The repeated assaults on federal officers at Delaney Hall are criminal acts — not protected speech. Homeland Security Investigations is unwavering in its commitment to hold those who attack law enforcement fully accountable under the law,” Karabinas concluded.
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Demonstrations at Delaney Hall were in their sixth night by Thursday. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)
Ongoing demonstrations outside Delaney Hall are entering their second week.
Fox News Digital contacted the DOJ for additional information.
On Saturday morning, anti-ICE agitators and counterprotesters were both seen outside Delaney Hall. A crowd was growing, and many officers were seen patrolling on bikes, with a visible divide between pro-ICE protesters and anti-ICE agitators.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who spent Memorial Day at Delaney Hall supporting the anti-ICE crowds, announced Friday that she was instructing New Jersey State Police to assume responsibility for public safety outside the detention center. Earlier in the week, Mullin had placed the blame on Sherrill for not allowing local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. DHS said local police were largely absent as federal agents were met with violent demonstrators.
Fox News’ Kimberly Ruiz contributed to this report.
Well, I gave him a chance, offering my services.
I was willing to give the young novice a primer on what a mayor can and can’t do, and let him know City Hall is a reality show like no other he’s been on. But Spencer Pratt didn’t call me in response to my column last week.
I did, however, hear from a slew of his most ardent supporters.
Steven C. had this to say: “You’re a left-wing idiot, and … it’s time for you to retire. You’re a joke!!! You always have been!!! God bless Spencer Pratt and the 45th and 47th President of the United States Donald Trump!!!!!”
You may be onto something, Steven!!! I’ve been thinking about retiring!!!! But then a former reality TV star like Pratt comes along, launches unholy attacks on the huddled and unhoused masses, and tells Vanity Fair he had a chat with God, who told him He wants Pratt to be mayor of L.A!!!!! With people like this running for office, how can I retire?!!!!!
R.W. wrote to say: “You say Spencer has never done anything in his life…What credentials do you have? From what I’ve read about you, you are a lousy commie journalist who has never accomplished anything in your life!!”
Just recently, R.W., I replaced a broken toilet tank flush valve and I learned two Willie Nelson songs on the guitar. That’s not nothing.
Peter did not mince words: “Your piece on Pratt is a hit piece filled with bull— . You should go f— yourself before someone takes you out, which is the appropriate response to a s—bag like yourself. So please f— off and drop dead, which is exactly what you deserve.”
Peter, I did drop dead once. Cardiac arrest. While on the other side, I saw God, who told me to snap out of it because He was going to tell Spencer Pratt to run for mayor. Who knew God had a defibrillator?
All of these, by the way, were actual emails, and there were many more just like them. But it’s only fair to note that despite the fulminating knucklehead wing of Pratt’s posse, he’s tapped into a justifiable sense of frustration with City Hall, given homelessness, the Palisades inferno and budget issues that squeeze all manner of basic city services.
That’s why Mayor Karen Bass is paddling furiously, trying to keep her political career afloat. In the latest UC Berkeley-L.A. Times poll, Bass is at 26%, Nithya Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22%. That’s so tight, it appears that no one will get the 50% needed to win outright, and if we get a top-two runoff, it’s not clear who will go to the dance.
So as we close out the primary, with the election on Tuesday, five talking points come to mind.
Which candidate knows the city best?
Los Angeles has 114 distinct neighborhoods spread across 470 square miles (that’s 10 times the size of San Francisco), with an estimated 220 languages spoken. Diversity is a defining characteristic, and roughly half the population is Latino, which makes it a shame there’s no Latino candidate for mayor, especially given the raids and roundups by President Trump.
A mayor doesn’t have to speak six languages and know every corner of the city, but residents want to be seen and heard, and feel like they’re understood and represented.
Raman is well-versed on homelessness policy, and she’s spot-on about the need for greater urgency in problem-solving, but as my colleague Noah Goldberg reported, constituents in her district complain that they haven’t seen enough of her.
As I said, Pratt has wisely targeted municipal failure. But in the realm of outsider candidates with Republican credentials, Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass last time, was comfortable whether he was in the Valley, South L.A. or anywhere in between. And he easily connected with people. Would Pratt be a tourist in his own city?
By virtue of her job the last four years, Bass — who raised a blended Black and Latino family — knows the city best, although her unfavorability rating is a big problem.
What about the other candidates?
In the aforementioned poll, minister and housing activist Rae Huang had 9% and former educational technology businessman Adam Miller had 5%. Virtual unknowns, neither had a legit chance of winning, but they could be spoilers for one of the top three candidates.
I spoke to both, and if you’re undecided, you should read up on them before voting. On Huang’s website, the first words are “Homes are for people, not profit.” Miller wants to bring his success in the business world to City Hall, and when you consider his policy agenda along with his nonprofit work with veterans and homelessness, he’s a better candidate than Pratt.
But he wasn’t on a reality TV show.
Democrats ruined L.A. and California, right?
If only I had a nickel for every time a reader suggested that.
By 101 measures, Los Angeles is one of the great cities of the world and California has built the world’s fourth-largest economy while leading on climate change, so apocalyptic diagnoses are a bit off the mark.
Also, local elections are nonpartisan. You don’t run for mayor as a D or an R.
And yet it’s true that Democrats and their policies and sensibilities rule the day, and they have a lot to answer for in Los Angeles and in California.
But would the same critics suggest that in conservative cities like Fresno and Bakersfield, which have their own homelessness and other problems, Republicans are to blame?
When it comes to housing, poverty, healthcare and streets occupied by people who are addicted or mentally ill, the failures go back decades, touch all levels of government, and cross party lines.
Have I given up on Los Angeles?
When I pointed out that Pratt seemed unaware of these complexities, and of the structural limits of mayoral power, readers suggested he was rising to the challenge while I was giving up on L.A.
Not at all. I care about L.A. enough to hold its leaders to a higher accountability, and to scrutinize posers and pretenders who think they can do a better job.
My advice for the next mayor.
Fix what’s broken, celebrate what works and take responsibility for what doesn’t.
Now let me try one more time:
Spencer, give me a call.
You can’t tell us you had a conversation with God about running for mayor and not share more details.
Did God scold you for referring to the mayor as Karen “Basura,” which means trash in Spanish?
Did He say we should pull out of the ‘28 Olympics, or have any advice on how to fill potholes and fix sidewalks?
If you’re having regular conversations about City Hall with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we’re dying to know:
On homelessness, what would Jesus do?
steve.lopez@latimes.com
Politics
FBI arrests protester who threatened to kill ICE officer’s family at NJ detention center protest, Blanche says
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Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday said that a man who made death threats against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and his family at a protest in New Jersey Thursday night had been arrested.
The arrest came just hours after Blanche promised the protester, who was captured on video, would be found and arrested.
“That’s a federal crime,” Blanche said on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” on Thursday. “Not only threatening the ICE officer — but think about how disgusting this individual is by threatening his wife and his children with death.
In the video, the protester can be heard taunting the officer: “I will kill your whole f—ing family. Your whole f—ing family is dead. Your children and wife all dead. I have your face mother—er! All dead!”
ANTI-ICE AGITATOR SCREAMS ‘I’LL KILL YOUR WHOLE F- FAMILY’ DAY AFTER DEM GOV PRAISES ‘PEACEFUL PROTESTING’
Federal immigration officers clashed with protesters outside Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J., on Thursday. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)
Blanche said the officer was just doing his job and “standing there.”
On Friday evening, Blanche wrote on X: Told you. @FBI just arrested the man who threatened to kill ICE officers and their families. FAFO.”
He has not yet been identified.
ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS CLASH WITH AGENTS OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY DETENTION CENTER AS GOV. SHERRILL DENIED ENTRY
The clash occurred Thursday evening outside of Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center where protesters were accused of biting, kicking and punching agents.
The protests were in their sixth night by Thursday. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)
Agents responded by deploying pepper spray and beating back agitators as the protest continued into its sixth night.
Nine rioters were arrested during the clashes Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.
ANTI-ICE AGITATORS THROW WOODEN PALLETS, MATTRESSES AT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING CHAOTIC NJ DETENTION CENTER CLASH
Approximately 100 protesters mobbed the area surrounding the detention center, chanting “F— ICE” and brandishing black umbrellas, gas masks and other gear to protect themselves from pepper spray and various anti-riot measures.
On Wednesday evening, DHS reported that approximately 100 anti-ICE protesters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. While rioters assaulted and threw objects at law enforcement, DHS said “local police refused to help our officers.” Six rioters were arrested Wednesday night for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers.
ICE agents use chemical irritants during clashes with protestors outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J., on Thursday. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
“We called local police, we called state police multiple times. Listen, I know the law enforcement there would love to respond, but because of Governor Sherrill’s behavior what the governor is doing, she’s not allowing public officers and state officers to respond,” Mullin said during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends.
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Demonstrations over conditions for detainees began Friday, May 22, after detainees penned an open letter claiming they were being denied access to medical care, being insufficiently fed and detained without due process.
DHS has denied those claims.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz and Robert McGreevy contributed to this report.
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