As U.S.-linked conservative donors increased support for aligned organisations this week, domestic culture wars began reshaping political debates abroad.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the US State Department is set to fund MAGA-aligned think tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.
Senior State Department official Sarah Rogers travelled to Europe in December to meet influential right-wing think tanks and has spoken to key figures in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party about deploying a pot of money to spread American values, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The funding is linked to the 250th anniversary celebrations of US independence later this year, the people said.
Private Money, Public Influence
Unlike official diplomacy, this funding operates quietly through grants, fellowships, and “educational” programmes rather than passing through embassies or parliaments. This creates political impact without formal accountability. Rogers, appointed as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, visited London, Paris, Rome, and Milan last December as part of what she described as a “freedom of speech tour.”
According to the Financial Times, Rogers clearly expressed her opposition to European internet security laws during her travels. The initiative is causing concern among Washington’s longtime allies, including the British Labour government. Even Reform UK expresses caution about receiving American money. Trump’s popularity in Britain is extremely low, with 81 per cent holding a negative attitude towards him. Politicians therefore fear toxic associations.
Groups aligned with Donald Trump’s administration rallied against “online censorship” and “extreme environmentalism” at an event held in the European Parliament earlier this week. The one-day conference run by the Political Network for Values on 4 February featured speakers from the Heritage Foundation, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Watch International, and other US organisations.
Exporting Domestic Conflicts
The Heritage Foundation, one of the most prominent MAGA think tanks, is credited with producing the authoritarian playbook known as Project 2025, the intellectual blueprint for Trump’s second term. That effort has helped set the US government on a path to “energy dominance,” which in practice means abandoning climate targets in favour of massively expanded fossil fuel extraction.
American political disputes over migration, gender, education, and media regulation increasingly appear in European debates. Language, slogans, and strategies travel with funding. Local contexts are reshaped by imported narratives. The result is ideological franchising. According to DeSmog, the MAGA groups at the Brussels event have a long record of attacking progressive social gains on issues including gender, religion, and LGBTQ+ rights. Alliance Defending Freedom was instrumental in the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The criticism of Europe’s attempt to regulate hate speech online echoes comments made by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025. He argued Europe’s biggest threat was the “threat from within,” partly caused by “digital censorship.” This, he claimed, posed a bigger threat than Russia at a time when Europe faces the escalating threat of Russian hybrid warfare on its eastern flank.
Regulation Gaps and Selective Alarm
Foreign influence is usually condemned when it comes from Russia or China. When it comes from the United States, concern is softer. Shared alliances blur scrutiny. Yet influence remains influence, regardless of origin. European rules on political financing vary widely. Many focus on party donations, not charities or think tanks. This creates loopholes. Organisations can shape debate without declaring political intent. Transparency suffers.
In August last year, the State Department announced it was considering sanctions against EU officials or individual member states responsible for implementing the EU’s Digital Services Act. Washington noted that this law restricts the freedom of speech of Americans and creates additional costs for US technology companies. In December, the State Department announced a ban on entry to the United States for five Europeans, led by former European Commissioner for Digital Affairs Thierry Breton, who were accused of putting pressure on American technology companies.
Conferences in Brussels, reports in English, and partnerships with universities give funded groups credibility. International branding protects domestic agendas. Criticism becomes harder. Kenneth Haar, researcher and campaigner at Corporate Europe Observatory, said: “The timing is shocking. While the rest of Europe is re-considering its links with the US after the Greenland affair, here we have quite a few European far-right parties rubbing shoulders with the core of Trump’s hinterland.”
Democracy Depends on Transparency
Public debate depends on trust in information sources. When funding structures are opaque, that trust weakens. Citizens struggle to distinguish independent research from sponsored advocacy. Defenders argue that cross-border funding supports free speech and pluralism, pointing to progressive foundations that also operate internationally. The imbalance lies in disclosure, not exchange.
What makes these networks effective is subtlety. They do not campaign openly. They shape agendas, train activists, and influence media framing. Their success lies in invisibility. Politics increasingly resembles a global industry where donors invest in narratives, think tanks compete for sponsorship, and influence is traded. National debates become interconnected markets. Local autonomy weakens.
A Question of Accountability
The issue is not ideological diversity. It is structural transparency. Citizens deserve to know who finances the ideas shaping public life. Without that knowledge, debate becomes distorted. As American political money circulates more widely, pressure will grow for clearer rules. Whether governments respond remains uncertain.
ADF has itself made inroads into Europe and has been quietly working with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Farage had rarely, if ever, mentioned abortion in his 31-year political career until May last year, when he called the UK’s 24-week abortion limit “absolutely ridiculous.”
Until clearer regulations emerge, culture wars will continue crossing borders quietly, funded by distant priorities.
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