Almost eight months into his second term, President Donald Trump is changing his stance on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a leader whose legitimacy the Trump administration had previously questioned.
In a significant shift from his past policies, Trump praised Lukashenko, and it looks like he is going to meet with the leader soon. This is a bit of a departure from the administration’s earlier position, which, along with other Western democracies, refused to recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus after a disputed election five years ago.
The State Department at the time had stated that the U.S. couldn’t recognize Lukashenko and called for new, free, and fair elections. Now, it’s a completely different tune. Trump said, “I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus. Our conversation was a very good one. We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska.” This change in tone is definitely surprising, especially since Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been under international sanctions for undermining democracy in Belarus.
This isn’t the first time Trump has given his admiration for what some call “strongman” leaders, per Bloomberg. At a White House event, when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev mentioned he had been in power for 22 years, Trump responded with admiration, saying it meant Aliyev was “tough and smart.” This fits a pattern we’ve seen before, with Trump commending leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and China’s Xi Jinping. He’s previously called Kim Jong Un an “absolute leader” and Xi Jinping a “brilliant man” with an “iron fist.”
Trump just loves dictatorships
Trump’s admiration for these leaders comes from their autocratic tendencies rather than any shared political beliefs, something he even hinted at during his campaign when he talked about the appeal of having a strongman running the country. The timing of this is also interesting, as it comes during attention toward the summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which was to talk about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.
Lukashenko has been a key supporter of Putin, and he faced more sanctions in 2022 because Belarus backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This move also stands in contrast to the approach of President Joe Biden and other European allies, who have largely kept their distance from Lukashenko’s regime. A visit by General Keith Kellogg to Minsk back in June marked the highest-ranking U.S. delegation to Belarus in years and led to the release of over a dozen political prisoners at Trump’s request.
Despite those releases, the situation in Belarus is still tough. As of August 2025, there are still almost 1,200 people recognized as political prisoners, many of whom were put in jail after the government suppressed protests that followed the disputed 2020 elections. It’s a complicated situation, and this new shift in policy toward Lukashenko just adds another layer to it. It’s a major change from what we’ve seen before, and it’s something to keep an eye on.
Published: Aug 18, 2025 01:43 pm