Senior vice president for democracy at the German Marshall Fund, Laura Thornton calls on the ruling Georgian Dream party to be careful when wishes for Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential elections.

She said the Accent that "Trump and the Georgian dream really have a lot in common", however, according to her, given that "Trump plans to cut foreign aid globally and implement more isolationist policies", more likely that he will not care about Georgia at all.

"Trump/MAGA and Georgian Dream indeed have a lot in common, in particular the embrace of illiberalism, attacks on media and civil society, and tilt toward Christian nationalism. As well as their shared talking points with the Kremlin, kinship with Orban, skepticism of support for Ukraine, isolationism, and promotion of conspiracy theories around Soros and so-called “Global War Party.” Under a Trump administration, a lot would depend on the composition of the Senate and the House with regard to some foreign policy positions as well as Trump’s appointments to State and USAID. As I’ve written in Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/01/usaid-trump-second-term-foreign-aid/, we felt the negative foreign policy and aid impact of Trump’s first administration on our ability protecting liberal democracy, minority rights, and civil society, and the second would most likely be more pronounced," Thornton said.

She explained, what the difference is between the stance on global democracy of the Biden administration and Trump:

"The Biden administration has taken a strong stance on global democracy, calling out strongmen leaders (like Orban and others), while Trump admires these leaders. CPAC, for example, has become quite international, embracing illiberal governments like GD."

"Therefore, I imagine a Trump administration would care much less about GD’s regressive tactics and attacks on democracy, perhaps lifting the punitive measures put in place by Biden. But more likely not to care about Georgia at all – with plans to cut foreign aid globally and implement more isolationist policies. Trump has also planned to reduce support to Ukraine, and likely NATO, which would have many negative knock-on effects in the region, making it even more unstable. I think GD should be careful what it wishes for because an isolationist U.S. would not make Georgia safer at all and would happily allow Georgia to be absorbed into the Kremlin’s sphere," she added.

When asked about the frequent hearings on Georgia in the U.S. Congress, Laura Thornton said the following:

"I would also say that the U.S. puts Georgia into a broader context of global trends – democratic backsliding, rising illiberalism, move toward the Kremlin. There is a tipping point on the Eastern Frontier with consequential elections in Moldova and Georgia and Armenia at a turning point, and all three countries the target of massive Russian influence operations. Wary of domino effects, Congress is naturally worried about the broader impact of events in Georgia on regional security."