Senior Trump official extends a hand of friendship to Europe’s far right

US state department's Sarah B Rogers publicly attacks policies on hate speech and immigration in other countries

As Donald Trump redoubled his war of words on the European Union and Nato in recent weeks, a senior state department official, Sarah B Rogers, was publicly attacking policies on hate speech and immigration by ostensible US allies, and promoting far-right parties abroad.

Rogers has arguably become the public face of the Trump administration's growing hostility to European liberal democracies. Since assuming office in October, she has met with far-right European politicians, criticized prosecutions under longstanding hate speech laws, and boasted online of sanctions against critics of hate speech and disinformation on US big tech platforms.