One Nation removes article offering itself as Trump brand franchisee

The midterms produced an 8 per cent swing against Republicans in House elections, double the swings of the previous three US midterms and the fourth time since World War II that both the House and Senate flipped in the same midterms, the column reports, citing News24's Tom Connell.

The One Nation article, published on January 23, 2025, the week of Trump's second inauguration, was headlined "Want Trump's action and style, then it's One Nation you need" and featured a photoshopped image of Hanson alongside Trump. In Europe, Hartcher writes, France's National Rally, Germany's AfD, Italy's The League and Futuro Nazionale, and Spain's Vox all distanced themselves from Trump after the midterms, while Britain's Nigel Farage did not defend the Republicans' "complete and utter rout".

Stanford political scientist Francis Fukuyama said that “The Trump brand is lost” and “Donald Trump has become toxic. No foreign political party is going to want to get close to him.” But he cautioned against writing off right-wing populism, saying there could be “a couple more moves in that direction” and noting Marine Le Pen is poised to win the French presidency in April and Italy is due to hold elections next year.

Hartcher's column also points to losses by Trump-aligned populist leaders in Poland, Hungary, Serbia and Brazil over the past year and a half, including Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro, who cried "fraud" and took political asylum in the US, and Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić, who lost to a student-led movement. Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority but remains in office.

In Australia, Barnaby Joyce cancelled a planned all-expenses-paid trip to Mar-a-Lago after his wife, Vikki Campion, reminded him he was rostered to work at the Woolbrook Public School community barbecue. Asked about a future invitation, Joyce said he would “have to check the barbecue schedule”. Billionaire Gina Rinehart, another Trump admirer, has gone quiet since the midterms, the column says.

Monash University politics professor emeritus Paul Strangio said the midterms "must punch a hole in One Nation to a degree", and that "the core message is that performative charlatanry has a shelf life and will be exposed ultimately". One Nation's vote share stalled in June. Joyce's own advice, he told the Herald, was "Don't go too far", quoting Tacitus: "From wisdom comes moderation".

The column argues the result offers no automatic comfort to Labor, because both Trump and the Albanese government are incumbents in a time of inflationary discontent. Strangio said Labor needed to "show that they have a plan" on inflation. A senior Liberal told the Herald the US result showed economic performance is the most important credential, and that "to focus on economic competence is a very good pathway for us to take if we want to return to government. We don't have to do crazy things."