Hungary's aggressive leader says a Donald Trump victory will help his fight against immigration and multiculturalism and restore traditional family values.
In Argentina, the president who once hugged Trump at a political conference in Maryland is attacking his critics like rats and parasites, arguing against what he calls corrupt people and calling climate change a “public lie.”
Trump's second term could shift US diplomacy away from traditional international alliances and more toward popular, authoritarian politicians, according to those leaders and outside observers.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary
Two days before Tuesday's election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made a bold prediction.
“Donald Trump will be president again, and that means that by the end of the year, the political forces that support peace will be more in the West,” Orbán told national radio.
Orbán is accused by the European Union of burying Hungarian democracy by dominating the media and building a network of loyal oligarchs. He has worried foreign leaders for being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What Orbán calls “illegal democracy” discriminates against civil society and violates LGBTQ+ rights. It is in favor of retaining power even if that means violating Hungary's indigenous interests.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia
Trump has avoided publicly criticizing Putin and has always spoken warmly of him.
“Obviously there is that kind of chemistry that has a sense of legitimacy,” said Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.
That chemistry is consistent with Trump's admiration for other authoritarian leaders, some of whom were elected by once-democratic systems, Gould-Davies said, noting Hungary under Orbán as an example.
Trump said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” a statement welcomed by the Kremlin, which currently has a major advantage on the battlefield and 20% of Ukraine's territory.
Moscow may be hoping that Trump will sow dysfunction in NATO given his demands that other alliance members meet agreed military standards, and his warnings that Russia can “do whatever the hell it wants” to those who fail.
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Gould-Davies noted before the election that the Kremlin would welcome a Trump victory because of his desire to end the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Russia. Putin and other authoritarian leaders will be emboldened by Trump's re-election, which will mean “a lot less emphasis in American foreign policy on the value and importance of human rights,” Gould-Davies said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most beloved and divisive political leaders in his country. Under Modi, Hindu nationalism – once an isolated ideology in India – has become mainstream, and no one has done more to advance the cause than the 74-year-old leader.
Some critics believe that Modi's politics have divided India, especially along religious lines. He was accused of using hate speech against the Muslim minority community in the country, especially in the last phase of election campaigning this year when he continued the speech against them.
To his followers, Modi is a political outsider who has broken the country's history of dynastic politics. His rise has been fueled in part by promises to overhaul India's economy, but also by the first mainstream Hindu politics in a country where 80% of the population is Hindu.
To his critics, Modi has undermined democracy and threatened the fabric of India, while his attacks on the media and liberal discourse have grown in more than a decade of rule.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey
Like Trump, Erdogan projects a power image that prioritizes national interests and relies on populist messages that present him as a champion of the common people against the elite.
The Biden administration has kept Erdogan's government at arm's length, but Trump and Erdogan have cultivated a cordial relationship. That is despite a series of differences between their countries, such as when the Trump administration removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 because of Ankara's purchase of a missile defense system made in Russia.
President Javier Milei of Argentina
The Argentine president has a tough style like Trump, reprimanding international institutions like the United Nations and taking a defiant approach to negotiations, rejecting meetings with leaders of traditional allies like Brazil and Spain.
For many observers, the most troubling parallels include Miley's allegations that last year's presidential election in Argentina was rigged against her. That, and his efforts to downplay the atrocities of Argentina's bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship have raised concerns about his impact on democracy.
Milei congratulated Trump on his election victory on Wednesday by posting a photo on Instagram of the two men embracing in front of their national flags.
“You know you can count on Argentina to do your job,” the caption read. “Now, Make America Great Again.”
Analysts say his cash-strapped government – in desperate need of US support, which does not play a major role in the International Monetary Fund – has been betting on a Trump win. Milei's administration is pinning its hopes on the idea that Trump can put pressure on the IMF to lend more money to Argentina, which is heavily indebted.
The fund is weighing whether to lend Argentina more money, which Milei's government needs to re-enter the world market and get out of currency controls. During Trump's first term, the IMF gave Argentina – then led by conservative President Mauricio Macri – a controversial $57 billion bailout.
Mariano Machado, chief American analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global intelligence firm, said that while US institutions and the separation of powers are designed to prevent authoritarian rule, “Argentina is now returning to a phase where the very limits of its institutions are being suppressed.”
Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia
Although he is a leftist, Fico used the same rhetoric as Trump.
Fico even compared the assassination attempt on Trump in July to his injuries in a shooting incident in May.
“It's a carbon-copy situation,” Fico said. “Donald Trump's political opponents are trying to imprison him, and if they don't succeed, they enrage the public so much that one of the losers picks up the gun.”
Like Trump, Fico shows contempt for the mainstream media, and has declared a war on illegal immigration. Fico has faced charges of organized crime, which he denounced as politically motivated. The case was eventually dismissed.
Slovakia's leader has criticized the West's handling of the war in Ukraine and canceled arms shipments to Kyiv.
Fico, like Orbán, is known for his pro-Russian views, opposes EU sanctions on Moscow and has said he will block Ukraine from joining NATO.
Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.
