Germany’s far-right AfD party, which has often been shunned at home, is seeking support in Washington by improving relations with figures from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement who have held important positions in the administration of US President Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has classified the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extremist organization, and major parties are avoiding any contact with it. Meanwhile, AfD representatives have held meetings with senior US State Department officials in recent months, reflecting the growing similarities between the AfD and parts of the MAGA movement. Americans have supported the party’s complaints about “political oppression” at home, as well as the AfD’s tough stance on immigration.
At a private reception in Manhattan, AfD MPs Jan Wenzel Schmidt and Kay Gottschalk were greeted with the German national anthem, including the taboo opening line “Germany, Germany above all,” which is strongly associated with Nazi ideology. Schmidt, who had just returned from a meeting with a US State Department official, joined in the singing, holding his hand over his heart. He later denied that the lyrics had any Nazi connection.
The reception, hosted by the New York Young Republican Club, underscored the AfD’s efforts to gain international recognition and posed challenges at home. Gottschalk told the audience that there was no longer democracy in Germany, and that it was no longer possible to say what was on one’s mind or what was on one’s mind.
The American-led alliance comes as the AfD is leading the polls in Germany,
threatening Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives ahead of elections next year.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that when an organization is not part of the mainstream, it craves the recognition that comes with a historical connection to American diplomacy.
Many Germans are troubled by the AfD’s popularity, as it is easy to draw parallels with the Nazi rise to power in the 1930s, which was also completely legal. Germany’s major parties have refused to work with the AfD. Far-right groups say that making deals to prevent the party from coming to power is undemocratic. AfD politicians have said they want to draw attention to the deteriorating state of democracy in the country and to gain support abroad. So far, it has not been very successful – other European far-right parties have condemned the AfD for insinuating Nazi ideology. However, Trump’s return to the White House means the party may have found a listening ear.
In February, US Vice President JD Vance shocked European leaders by saying that freedom of speech and political opponents were being suppressed, and that Europeans were failing to control migration. Vance then met with the AfD leader ahead of Germany’s federal elections to show his support. US Secretary of State
Marco Rubio said in May that the AfD’s inclusion among extremist organizations was a disguised tyranny.
A German government spokesman said the AfD was using every opportunity to mention it and pressuring the government. This is a problem because Germans want to maintain good relations with the Americans, and right-wing extremists are sabotaging these efforts.
The German intelligence service also classified the AfD as extremist because of its racist and anti-Islamic comments. The party’s classification as an extremist organization allows the state to recruit informants and intercept party communications, as well as bar party members deemed disloyal to the state from holding public office.
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