Donald Trump Jr. will travel to Romania later this month shortly before the country’s presidential election is held after a months-long delay.
Why it matters: MAGA heavyweights, including Trump Jr., Vice President Vance and Elon Musk erupted after Romania’s top court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election over worries of Russian meddling — lambasting it as evidence that European countries are silencing the right.
- Vance in particular has argued European elites pretend to care about democracy while ignoring the will of their voters, if those voters happen to choose “extreme” candidates.
Catch up quick: Romanian government intelligence indicated that Moscow ran digital influence operations to benefit ultranationalist candidate Călin Georgescu, who had praised Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and won the election’s first round.
- Trump Jr. slammed the decision at the time as “another Soros/Marxist attempt at rigging the outcome & denying the will of the people,” referencing Democratic megadonor George Soros.
The latest: The new first round of voting will be held on May 4, with a runoff penciled in for May 18. Trump Jr. is visiting on April 28.
- The Romanian Constitutional Court last month barred Georgescu from running.
Zoom in: Trump is traveling to Romania to attend Trump Business Vision 2025, a business event, as part of a speaking tour organized by Salem Media, according to a source familiar with the matter.
- The person said Trump Jr. will not meet with government officials publicly or privately.
- Trump Jr.’s tour will also take him to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia.
The news of Trump’s visit was first reported by Romanian media outlet G4media.ro.