Donald Trump and America continue to have an effect on foreign elections

President Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States in November of 2024 obviously had a huge effect on America and the world. The United States is the most powerful and influential nation in the world, and its leader will always have an outsized influence on the rest of the world.

Donald Trump has shaken the world’s global trade, stocks and the Russia Ukraine war. In fact, it could be argued that the entire world order is undergoing massive change as a result of President Trump’s actions.

But another thing that Mr Trump is having an effect on is elections in foreign countries. As recently as January 2025, the Canadian Conservatives had an over 20% lead over the incumbent Liberals.

As a result of Donald Trump’s tariff threats, and his repeated calls, likely in jest, for Canada to be annexed as the 51st state of the United States, led to an incredible reversal of fortunes for the Canadian Liberals. After changing out their leader Justin Trudeau, they promptly won their federal election.

The new Liberal leader Mark Carney was for some reason as stronger in standing up to Trump than the Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. It should be noted that most Canadian age groups except for those over 60 years old voted Conservative. The whole “defending against American domination” argument seemed to resonate for them.

Australia is having their election now. The right leaning Liberal party in Australia had been leading in the polls at the end of 2024. Now the left leaning Labor party seems to be headed for an election win. How much of that can be attributed to reaction to Trump is less clear, but there was a marked shift in the polls towards the Labor party after Trump was inaugurated.

America, as the leading country in the world, will always have a huge influence on other countries, especially those in the Anglosphere, which are much more influenced by us culturally.

But Donald Trump, because of the actions he has taken, will have more influence than almost any American President. As a result, Donald Trump will continue to change the course, and the outcomes, of elections in other countries, in a way that possibly no other figure in history ever has.