April 18, Kathmandu – Samuel Samson, a senior advisor at the US State Department, has been breaking historical norms by holding personal meetings with far-right German parliamentarians in an office located just a short distance from the White House.
Since World War II, American foreign policy has maintained a nearly eight-decade-long stance of keeping Germany’s extreme right-wing parties out of power. However, this policy shifted during President Trump’s tenure, a change made evident by a meeting last September between Samson and Beatrix von Storch and Joachim Pabbie from Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The German domestic intelligence agency has classified this party as a suspicious extremist organization.
The meeting, which evolved into a session of exchanging grievances, reportedly included AfD leaders expressing concern to Samson, then 26, and other American diplomats that the German government might impose restrictions on their party, according to Paul and another knowledgeable source.
Americans have opposed stringent regulations on social media in Europe, framing such measures as tools aimed at suppressing conservative ideas. These groups even discussed a conspiracy theory claiming that mainstream European leaders sought to remove the white race and replace it with black immigrants.
‘Right from the beginning, we sensed how willing they were to listen to us,’ said Paul, ‘They were taking notes on many points.’
Samson has been leading Trump’s push to reshape US-European relations. Traveling across Europe, he has been strengthening ties with far-right groups, favoring such actors over moderate forces.
He accuses decades-experienced diplomats of restricting freedom and employs a strategy of repeatedly meeting with extreme rivals to empower them. Having graduated college just five years ago, Samson has adopted a firm stance against conventional American diplomatic norms.
In March, he held a secret breakfast meeting with UK far-right nationalist Nigel Farage, discussing topics such as abortion and censorship. In May, in Paris, he attempted to present a case before the human rights commission on behalf of far-right French leader Marine Le Pen concerning alleged injustices.
‘They were seeking someone who could lend credibility to their narrative,’ said Magali Laforcade, head of the commission.
However, this approach has yet to yield significant results. Marine Le Pen remains ineligible for the presidency. Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom Samson has praised, was recently defeated in elections. Several European far-right leaders currently view ties with Trump more as a burden than an opportunity.
Still, this remains a core component of Trump administration policy toward Europe.
Samson and most officials envision Europe in 2026 as a place where ‘woke’ culture and identity-based politics have become extreme. Protectionist policies and increased media regulation prevail while patriotism and national pride decline.
They argue that the European bureaucracy has sacrificed freedom of expression by regulating American tech companies and efforts to remove or restrict access to sexual abuse content on social media.
‘Europe has become a battleground of digital censorship, mass immigration, restrictions on religious freedom, and democratic self-governance,’ Samson wrote on the State Department’s Substack account.
In 2025, Samson was the most prominent diplomat openly criticizing European leaders. In November, Sarah Rogers became the State Department’s Public Diplomacy head and later traveled to the UK, meeting diplomats there.
Rogers conveyed Samson’s message with a slightly different style and voiced complaints about rising immigration and crime in the UK.
Many have discussed the topics of these meetings and talks, but due to lack of official authorization, names have mostly been kept confidential.
Both Samson and Rogers declined to give interviews. A State Department deputy spokesperson said, ‘They are engaging in tough dialogues that will strengthen Europe-US relations.’
“Building an Empire”
Son of a Filipino mother and an American father, Samson developed a religious character early on.
In 2013, as the student body president at his Catholic primary school, he spoke about ‘personal faith in God, intellectual respect, and social consciousness.’
During high school, he ran for student committee president with the slogan ‘Make Sack Great Again,’ and was known as a staunch conservative, according to the school newspaper.
While studying at the University of Texas, he faced racial slurs and threats. Working on Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s staff, Samson described his experiences as a conservative identity.
He recounted, ‘Even when I wore a Reagan-Bush-themed shirt to class, people threw harsh insults at me.’
Heidi Altman, a volunteer at the Catholic school who met Samson, said, ‘He was dedicated to building a Christian state. He would discuss politics and teach leadership.’
Soon, Samson moved to Washington DC and grew close to Vice President JD Vance, an early supporter of the American Moment organization, which aimed to launch careers of young conservatives.
Samson spent nearly three years in the organization, serving as chief strategist.
Vance has said, ‘This fight will be won not by the desperate but by those who believe in the future.’
When Trump returned, Samson was appointed senior advisor in the State Department’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor division.
The department, established by the US Congress in 1977 to promote freedom, supports groups advocating women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and press freedom.
After Samson’s arrival, diplomats began searching for his records online. He mentioned knowing the Vice President personally, which made him notably assertive.
According to Nick Solheim, head of American Moment, Samson’s role was fitting, centering Christianity and freedom of expression in government service.
A former official revealed that Samson accused the European Union of restricting freedom of expression and instructed on how to counteract punitive measures. The office took three months to assess the impact of digital regulation.
Disliking the term ‘human rights,’ Samson sought to rename the department but failed; instead, he established the ‘Office of Natural Rights’ within it.
To him, ‘human rights’ are man-made political ideas, while ‘natural rights’ are God-given. He provided staff with a document titled ‘Natural Rights Doctrine,’ emphasizing the goal of avoiding criticism.
Unrest in Europe
In 2025, Samson toured Europe attempting to implement his principles.
He prioritized support for French anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen, who aspired to become the first far-right president since World War II but was currently trailing in elections.
In April, a court ruled Le Pen ineligible for public office for five years, despite her leading in polls. In May, Samson sought to involve the human rights commission in opposing the French government.
Laforcade described the dialogue as ‘pointless and evasive,’ refusing to comment further. She suspected foreign interference and informed the government.
The same day, Samson and colleagues visited the Reporters Without Borders office, expressing dissatisfaction with the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
The law aims to protect users from abuse and requires social media platforms to remove illegal content.
Yet, Samson and other administration conservatives claim it is an attempt to silence far-right voices in Europe.
During the meetings, Samson reportedly said, ‘France is slowly becoming like North Korea.’
By year-end, technology regulation had been integrated into US policy, reflected in national security strategies and State Department plans.
Memos circulated to numerous embassies outlined goals from 2026 to 2030 to ‘rebuild a civilizational alliance with European nations infected by post-Cold War neoliberalism.’
These memos differed significantly from previous guidance, urging diplomats to condemn restrictions on free speech and religious freedom, and warning that immigration posed a national threat in Europe.
For mainstream European leaders, these memos illustrated a fundamental revolution in American perspectives. Gender equality, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ issues are deprioritized; religious freedom and far-right voices are given precedence.
The Trump-led US is prepared to limit support to Europe until its politics lean toward the far-right.
Influential Circumstances
By the end of 2025, Samson and Rogers were fully focused on advancing Trump’s new European strategy. They conducted European tours towards year-end to promote their agenda.
In early December, Rogers met British diplomats in London, sharply criticizing rising immigration and related crime (although official data suggests crime has decreased).
She criticized the police for arresting a transgender rights artist and expressed confidence in the British system’s issues.
British officials were stunned. ‘Everyone was caught off guard,’ one said.
Rogers, a former free speech lawyer with clients including the National Rifle Association and MAGA supporters, did not adopt Samson’s full confrontational style but strongly supported him.
Somewhat higher in rank than Samson, Rogers occasionally uses a less confrontational approach but remained focused on issues raised by Samson in the first quarter of 2026.
In December, Samson’s final major European tour took him to Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. In Hungary, he made his boldest public statement against the old European order.
Speaking at Hungary’s Institute for International Affairs, he declared, ‘This is clearly not a Europe of freedom of expression and self-governance.’
His ‘Office of Natural Rights’ vowed to ‘take action protecting the core social interests from both traditional authoritarian and modern ideological extremes.’
Yet, four months later, the impact Trump’s administration hoped for had not materialized.
Before Hungary’s election, Vice President Vance visited Budapest, calling Orban a leader standing for Western civilization’s values.
However, in the recent election, Hungarian voters defeated Orban, who had been in power for 16 years.
(Translated from The New York Times)
