[ti:Will Trump¡¯s Presidency Boost Global Populist Movements?] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.00]Populist movements are making major gains across the world [00:05.14]with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. [00:13.06]Most political observers believe Trump's path to the presidency was fueled by populist policies. [00:23.90]Populist movements attempt to appeal to common people [00:28.96]by rejecting established political organizations often seen as elite. [00:36.85]In his inauguration speech, Trump spoke of his strong desire [00:43.15]to put the interests of Americans first, above all else. [00:49.03]Trump said his administration will seek "friendship and goodwill" with other nations. [00:57.49]But he added: "We do so with the understanding [01:01.96]that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first." [01:08.72]"We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, [01:16.17]stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs," he said. [01:21.63]"Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength." [01:27.56]In the past, Trump has questioned the relevance of the 67-year-old NATO military alliance. [01:36.94]During his speech, he said the United States will aim to "reinforce old alliances and form new ones." [01:47.23]Trump has repeatedly promised to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep illegal immigrants out. [01:57.10]He also called for severe immigration enforcement measures for people already in the U.S. [02:05.88]Thomas Greven is a political science professor at Germany's Free University of Berlin. [02:15.13]He says Trump won the presidency with a message of economic protectionism and tough immigration reforms. [02:25.63]He said Trump could give a boost to other populist movements around the world, [02:32.26]depending on how he handles his first months in office. [02:36.81]"Now right-wing populists everywhere who feel validated by Trump's victory will have to account [02:45.90]- to a certain extent - for everything he does and says." [02:51.65]But Greven said Trump could disappoint supporters [02:56.27]both at home and abroad if his policies end up offending other nations. [03:03.22]"An international movement of nationalists is frail because they end up offending each other," he said. [03:13.41]Similar policies have been used by political movements in other countries as a way to win votes. [03:22.39]One of the biggest examples was last year's Brexit referendum, [03:28.48]in which British citizens voted to leave the European Union. [03:33.18]The campaign for Britain leaving the E.U. also focused heavily on immigration issues. [03:41.30]It said Britain was not able to effectively control the number of immigrants because of E.U. rules. [03:49.82]The Brexit movement believed the E.U. imposed too many regulations in Britain. [03:57.03]It also argued that its leaders were not accountable to the British government or its citizens. [04:04.95]Trump has repeatedly praised Britain's decision to leave the E.U. [04:10.69]He recently said in an interview that Brexit would "end up being a great thing." [04:16.94]He predicted that more E.U. members would choose to leave, [04:21.27]mainly because of immigration problems in Europe. [04:25.63]"If refugees keep pouring into different parts of Europe, [04:30.68]I think it's going to be very hard to keep it together, because people are angry about it," Trump said. [04:38.33]Trump has also criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for that country's decision [04:46.27]to open its borders in 2015 to about one million refugees. [04:52.59]Most of the refugees were Muslims fleeing war in the Middle East. [04:58.29]Trump called the action "a catastrophic mistake." [05:02.96]Merkel is seeking a fourth term as chancellor in elections to be held in September. [05:09.96]Her popularity has dropped since the refugee crisis. [05:14.25]Last month, a man drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. [05:22.08]The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) [05:26.63]blamed Merkel's immigration policies for allowing the attack to happen. [05:33.27]Professor Greven said the AfD will win a presence in parliament [05:39.69]and is likely to make bigger gains at the state level. [05:43.87]Currently, Merkel's CDU-led alliance is leading in polls against the AfD. [05:51.81]But even if her party wins in September, [05:55.73]she will likely have to form a coalition government with other parties. [06:00.77]In France, the leader of the far-right National Front (NF), Marine Le Pen, [06:07.51]is a leading candidate for that country's presidential election in April. [06:12.84]She has said she believes Trump's win and the Brexit vote have helped her campaign. [06:19.42]The National Front has heavily used anti-immigration policies to win voter support. [06:27.21]It has specifically spoken out against Muslim immigration after several major terrorist attacks hit France. [06:36.27]During a recent interview, Le Pen outlined some of her priorities if she won the presidency. [06:44.11]She said she would hold a referendum on leaving the E.U., [06:48.86]close French borders and push for an alliance with Russia and the United States to fight Islamist terrorism. [06:58.22]Greven said France's National Front has moved on [07:02.84]from being the party of the lower middle class to more of a working class party. [07:08.32]It is now appealing to a larger number of voters, [07:11.83]including former communists and socialists, he added. [07:17.00]Other politicians in Europe have also faced strong opposition from populist or nationalist candidates. [07:26.66]In a close race in Austria last month, far-right candidate Norbert Hofer [07:33.72]won 47 percent of the vote against Green Party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. [07:41.45]Even though Hofer lost, the close election reflected increasing gains of populist movements. [07:49.49]In Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned in December [07:55.53]after losing to populist and national parties in a referendum over constitutional reforms. [08:03.31]In the Netherlands, recent polls showed continued strong support [08:08.62]for far-right politician Geert Wilders ahead of a general election in March. [08:15.43]Wilders and his Freedom Party have repeatedly made statements against Islam and Muslim immigration. [08:23.92]Wilders himself was found guilty of inciting discrimination and insulting a minority group. [08:31.71]The charges came after he led a chant at a meeting [08:36.04]calling for the Netherlands to accept fewer Moroccan immigrants. [08:41.66]I'm Bryan Lynn.