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How pro-Trump propaganda in Serbia was overturned after the US operation in Venezuela
For years, the media close to power in Serbia treated US President Donald Trump as an unquestionable ally of Belgrade, often with an excessive adoration that bordered on the absurd.
Serbian politicians boasted about personal ties to Trump and gifts they had received from him, which the public often interpreted as fairy tales. One such example is President Aleksandar Vučić’s statement in 2020: “ Only President Trump signed with this pen. He gave me that pen after writing a message on a piece of paper. And now I’m looking for that paper, not to explain it… They even gave me the keys to the White House… He (Trump) told me: ‘This is for you to always enter the White House.’ ”
In reality, Vučić had no free entry to the White House, nor any privileges at Trump's residence. But that didn't stop him from continuing his adoration: " I expressed my desire to visit Serbia, because Serbia was the country where support for his election was the highest in all of Europe ," he said in a speech in 2024.
Media propaganda and the “Serbian Trump”
From Mitrovica to Belgrade, tabloids like Informer paid for billboards celebrating Trump’s victory, proclaiming him the “Serbian Trump.” “ Congratulations, Trump – Serbia ,” Informer TV wrote after the election win.
But everything changed late last year, when Trump returned to the White House and ordered the US attack on Venezuela. Large protests erupted in Belgrade. Vučić, amid boos in front of the presidency, declared that Trump would pass laws prohibiting intervention in sovereign states.
" When I bring them in, the false liberal system will collapse. Because that era is ending and the funding for overthrowing foreign regimes is returning to where it began, in the US ," he said.
But when liberals did not stop the interventions, but started bombing foreign regimes, Trump's biggest supporters in Serbia turned into his most vocal critics.
" As of today, anything is possible! Do you realize that they are planning something like this for every sovereign state on this planet? And, unfortunately, for Serbia as well ," said Dragan J. Vučićević, owner of Informer TV.
Diplomatic hypocrisy and the fear of isolation
Has Informer finally realized that Trump is not a Serb, nor a peacemaker?
Diplomat Branka Latinovic describes this turn as a lack of consistency: " When a position changes, sometimes it is useful. But here we are dealing with internal political contradictions and uncertainties ."
Serbia continues to pursue a contradictory foreign policy. While most democratic countries contested the re-election of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, President Vučić personally congratulated him and sent the speaker of the parliament to Caracas for the inauguration.
" Maduro invited us, hosted us, and this speaks volumes about relations with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić ," Ana Brnabić said in 2025, in an interview with Pink TV.
She also shared an episode: " In Caracas, a soldier approaches me, recognizes me, and says with a punch to my chest: Aleksandar Vučić, friend ."
But friendship has no place in global politics. Vučić criticized the American attack on Venezuela, but essentially expressed fear that such precedents could be used against Serbia itself.
" We must believe only in ourselves and our own strength. Even if the region turns against us, no one will help us ," he warned.
From Maduro to the fear of a Western-style overthrow
The vice president of the Social Democratic League of Vojvodina, Aleksandar Olenik, says that Vučić's concern is not a contradiction, but awareness: " Vučić knows that he was re-elected in the same way as Maduro in 2024, and therefore he feels danger. He understands that international law has changed, if you are a dictator, you no longer have protection ."
Vučić stressed that the blow to Venezuela is also a blow to the global fuel market, where the US aims to eliminate China and Russia. According to Latinović, this also explains the real motivation of the pro-government media in Serbia: not idealism for Venezuela, but protection of Russian and Chinese interests in the Balkans. “ The case was used to seduce the other side, not to say to make them cool, ” concludes Latinović. /Adapted by “Pamphlet” from “The Geopost”
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