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One would expect Tino Chrupalla, the co-chair of Germany’s ascendant right-wing populist party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), to declare his ardent support for everything that U.S. President Donald Trump is doing. After all, the AfD shares MAGA’s contempt for immigrants, “wokeness,” and the European Union.

But then came the war in Iran. In a recent TV interview, Chrupalla accused the Americans of committing “war crimes,” specifically citing alleged attacks on a girls’ school and civilian infrastructure. The AfD leader’s comments didn’t come as a complete surprise, considering his earlier criticisms of Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, when he accused the White House of “Wild West methods.”

One would expect Tino Chrupalla, the co-chair of Germany’s ascendant right-wing populist party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), to declare his ardent support for everything that U.S. President Donald Trump is doing. After all, the AfD shares MAGA’s contempt for immigrants, “wokeness,” and the European Union.

But then came the war in Iran. In a recent TV interview, Chrupalla accused the Americans of committing “war crimes,” specifically citing alleged attacks on a girls’ school and civilian infrastructure. The AfD leader’s comments didn’t come as a complete surprise, considering his earlier criticisms of Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, when he accused the White House of “Wild West methods.”

“Donald Trump started off as a peace president,” Chrupalla said in early March. “He will end up as a president of war.”

The AfD is not just any party. It has arguably been at the forefront of Trump world’s efforts to gain an ideological foothold in Europe’s biggest democracy. In February 2025, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance made a point of meeting with Alice Weidel, the party’s other co-chair, in the wake of his Europe-bashing speech at the Munich Security Conference. This public support of the AfD by Washington’s second-in-command scandalized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other mainstream German politicians, who regard the AfD and its anti-immigrant, pro-Russian ideology as beyond the pale. Elon Musk has given Weidel generous exposure on his social media........

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