Mexico’s President Slams ‘Politically Motivated’ Trump Arrest

Former president Donald Trump has predictably gotten little support from European or other world leaders, but on Wednesday, a couple of notable heads of state expressed their support in the wake of his Tuesday booking on 34 felony counts and appearance before a New York City court.

Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador blasted the history-making charges. After previous statements decrying the case as “political”, the Mexican leader said Wednesday, “Supposedly legal issues should not be used for electoral, political purposes.” He then said: “That’s why I don’t agree with what they are doing to ex-President Trump.”

“It should be the people who decide,” López Obrador emphasized. The irony is of course that he’s a leftist leader, though some have seen him as more of a centrist. But he and Trump have gotten along.

As The Telegraph reviews, “López Obrador had a strangely warm relationship with Trump in 2019 and 2020, despite the former U.S. president’s frequent criticisms of Mexico and migrants, and his plans to build a wall between the two countries.”

“In fact, López Obrador had fewer public disagreements with Trump than with current President Joe Biden,” the UK publication pointed out.

The other world leader to speak out is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who said of the charges, “Keep on fighting, Mr. President! We are with you,” in a tweet.

Keep on fighting, Mr. President! We are with you, @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/EZFMYHDRzl

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) April 3, 2023

The White House, for its part, has continued to maintain a stance of “no comment”. The Kremlin too has refused to weigh in on the charges facing Trump when asked by reporters at a Wednesday briefing.