Hacked internal documents from Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland party reveal an effort to enlist the support of Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, according to reports. The leaked files, comprising over 420,000 emails, documents and personnel records obtained by the hacker group Distributed Denial of Secrets, expose how AfD leadership sought American backing as far back as 2016 to legitimize their hardline political agenda on the global stage.
A Decade of Lobbying and Telegram Debates
The leaked records show that following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, AfD officials intensely debated the precise wording of a congratulatory telegram to Trump. The final message expressed the wish that Trump’s “hopes as a person be fulfilled.” Beyond formal pleasantries, the party asked the incoming administration to support its push to remove the post-World War II “enemy state” clause from the United Nations Charter. While the clause is largely obsolete today, the AfD remains unique among German political parties in viewing it as an attack on national sovereignty.
As the party pursued international validation, its leaders attempted to establish channels with Trump’s inner circle. Yahoo News notes that while early efforts to contact first-term U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell were unsuccessful, officials pursued contacts with former White House adviser Steve Bannon. These transnational links eventually bore fruit closer to home for the MAGA movement.
AfD Politicians Form Open Alliances with MAGA Figures
The connection between the American right and the German fringe has evolved past quiet telegrams into open political alliance. Vice President JD Vance and various State Department employees have frequently met with AfD politicians, including party leader Alice Weidel. Meanwhile, AfD deputy leader Beatrix von Storch and her husband, Sven, attended Trump’s Make America Great Again Victory Rally just prior to his inauguration last year. Storch subsequently boasted in a newsletter about meeting Steve Bannon and Donald Trump Jr.
This external embrace contrasts sharply with the party’s domestic standing in Germany. German intelligence formally labels the AfD as a suspected domestic extremist organization, citing hardline anti-immigration and Islamophobic views alongside documented sympathies and connections to Nazism among certain members. Björn Höcke, the party’s leader in Thuringia, was convicted in 2024 of using a banned slogan from the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing. Despite a strict cordon sanitaire enforced by Germany’s mainstream political parties—none of which will form coalitions with the group—the AfD continues surging in domestic polls.
Electoral Gains and Presidential Praise
The party currently commands 30 percent support in national polls across Germany’s multiparty democracy. That momentum materialized powerfully at the ballot box in September, when the AfD captured 43.8 percent of the vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The victory positions the party to potentially form Germany’s first far-right state government since the Nazis.
That state-level breakthrough immediately drew applause from across the Atlantic. Trump celebrated the Saxony-Anhalt election results on Truth Social, posting: “Wow! The Populist Party in Germany just had a really big night. They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible Immigration rules and regulations which have hurt Germany so badly. THEY ARE ON THE RISE, and not going to take it anymore! MGGA!!!”
| Event / Milestone | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Outreach | 2016 | AfD debates telegram wording to congratulate Trump and lobbies against U.N. Charter clauses. |
| Legal Conviction | 2024 | Thuringia leader Björn Höcke convicted for using banned Nazi paramilitary slogan. |
| Inauguration Presence | Last Year | Deputy leader Beatrix von Storch attends MAGA Victory Rally and meets Bannon and Trump Jr. |
| Electoral Breakthrough | September | AfD wins 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt, pushing toward a state government role. |
