Study finds that over half of Dutch support parts of Trump’s MAGA ideology
More than half of the Netherlands’ population supports parts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology, a survey by the Clingendael Institute shows. The study also found that a portion of Dutch respondents would welcome a European version of the movement.
The survey, conducted among 4,297 participants representative of the Dutch population, found that 54 percent believe Western civilization is under threat, with respondents free to interpret what that means. Many participants expressed skepticism toward migration.
Support for the perceived threat to Western civilization was highest among PVV, FvD, JA21, and BBB voters. VVD voters showed concern to a lesser extent, while CDA voters were divided. Supporters of D66, GroenLinks, and PvdA felt the least threatened. The survey found little variation in MAGA receptivity by age or gender. An exception was women aged 18 to 34, who appeared particularly resistant to the ideology, while young men in the same age group mirrored the support levels of older men and women.
Certain ideas from MAGA found broader support. For example, 46 percent agreed with President Trump’s statement that some countries are “shithole countries” incapable of good governance.
The study also suggested that the MAGA movement may be promoting its ideology in Europe. About 20 percent of respondents said they would support a European initiative modeled after MAGA, sometimes referred to as “Make Europe Great Again” (MEGA).
According to Clingendael, MAGA includes several currents with differing ideas of what it means for a country to be “great.” Christian nationalism emphasizes restoring America as a deeply Christian nation, while alt-right factions reject the liberal democratic order. The institute expressed concern over the rapid growth of extreme and potentially violent voices within the movement.
While most specific MAGA currents lack majority backing in the Netherlands, 15 to 25 percent of the population aligns with elements of tech-libertarianism, alt-right ideology, Christian nationalism, or anti-institutionalism opposing “a global conspiracy of malevolent governments.”
