Who else is walking and talking like Trump?
Geert Wilders, 54, is leader of the far right in the Netherlands. Long before Trump sought to ban U.S. travel by citizens of several Muslim countries, Wilders was infuriating his opponents by calling for a ban on Muslim immigration. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held off a challenge by Wilders in the March election by taking a Trump-like turn to the right and questioning the place of Islam in Dutch society.
Marine Le Pen, 49, lost France’s presidential election in May to the smooth-talking pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron. If Macron fails to deliver on a promise to boost France’s longstagnant economy, Le Pen could yet prevail. She, too, has vowed to revitalize France’s industrial past and promised to put “core” traditional France first. Those themes could have mass appeal to working class voters when France holds its next election in 2022.
Boris Johnson, 53, is Britain’s foreign minister — and possibly future prime minister. He has a shock of blond hair that seems Trump-like, he was born in New York, and he’s pretty good at saying outrageous things. A former journalist, he can’t hide his obsession with media coverage. He helped lead the campaign for Britain to exit the European Union, an outcome endorsed by Trump.
Jacinda Ardern, 37, is New Zealand’s new prime minister. She opposes tax cuts and supports the welfare state, unlike Trump. However, she wants to lower immigration to New Zealand. That prompted The Wall Street Journal to tweet last month: “Meet New Zealand’s Justin Trudeau (prime minister of Canada) — except she’s more like Trump on immigration.” Ardern said she found it “offensive” to be compared to the American leader.
Bulgaria’s Veselin Mareshki, 50, is a businessman and politician who founded the anti-immigration Volya party. He owns a drug store chain with more than 350 branches nationwide. The New York Times reported this year that his name is on all of them: “Mareshki, Mareshki, Mareshki. You see it everywhere. Like Trump, Trump, Trump.”