US government to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities in Europe
> The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.
> Senior state department official Sarah Rogers travelled to Europe in December to meet influential rightwing think-tanks and has spoken to key figures in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party about deploying a pot of money to spread American values, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
> The funding was linked to the 250th anniversary celebrations of US independence later this year, the people said.
> It is likely to cause consternation among Washington’s allies, particularly centre-left governments such as Labour in the UK, which will be concerned that US government funds are being deployed to undermine their policies.
> A US official said the programme was a twist on previous state department projects that channelled funding towards specific causes overseas and was likely to focus on initiatives based in London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
> The Trump administration has sought to drastically scale back US foreign assistance and cuts have fallen heavily on programmes to support good governance, human rights and democracy.
> Rogers’ efforts come as the White House has criticised long-standing allies in Europe.
> The US national security strategy, released last year, called for “cultivating resistance” to the continent’s current trajectory. The document warned that mass migration and “censorship of free speech” could lead to “civilisational erasure”.
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