Trump speaks via video at rally of global far-right in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Former U.S. President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind Spain’s far-right in a video shown at a rally in Madrid that also featured messages by the leading stars of Europe's populist right like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

In a recording that lasted under 40 seconds made while Trump was on an airplane, Trump thanked Spain’s far-right Vox party and its leader Santiago Abascal for what he called the “great job” they do.

“We have to make sure that we protect our borders and do lots of very good conservative things,” Trump said. “Spain is a great country and we want to keep it a great country. So congratulations to Vox for so many great messages you get out to the people of Spain and the people of the world.”

Vox captured national attention on Spain's political landscape in 2019 when it became the third-largest force in Spain’s Parliament after an election that led to a national left-wing coalition that still holds power. Vox's messages include zero tolerance for Catalan separatism, disdain for gender equality, diatribes against unauthorized immigration from Africa and embracing both the “Reconquista” of medieval Spain from Islam as well as the legacy of Gen. Francisco Franco’s 20th-century dictatorship.