Belarus Leader Praises Trump

Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s leader, used a new viral clip to praise Donald Trump while arguing the United States had shown its limits in dealing with Iran and should not “mess with China.” (youtube.com) The video circulating online shows Lukashenko saying Trump “showed the whole world that America is not as powerful as they thought,” then linking that point to a warning about confronting Beijing. A repost by BRICS News on X drew about 37,000 likes, helping push the remarks beyond Belarus and Russian media audiences. (youtube.com) (x.com) His comments landed during a period of warmer contact between Minsk and Washington. Carnegie Endowment reported on March 25, 2026, that the United States had eased some sanctions on Belarus and that Lukashenko had released another 250 political prisoners as the two sides explored a broader thaw. (carnegieendowment.org) The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said on March 26, 2026, that it was removing some Belarus-related restrictions and issuing a new general license covering Belinvestbank and other entities. Carnegie reported that Minsk and Washington were also discussing reopening embassies and a possible meeting between Lukashenko and Trump in the United States. (ofac.treasury.gov) (carnegieendowment.org) At the same time, Lukashenko has kept stressing that Belarus will not pivot away from Moscow or Beijing. Belarus’s state news agency BelTA quoted him on February 16, 2026, calling Russia and China “vitally important states” for Belarus’s existence and saying U.S. talks would not come “at the expense” of Russia. (eng.belta.by) That balancing act sits against Belarus’s deeper isolation from Europe since the 2020 crackdown and its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Council of the European Union said on February 26, 2026, that it extended sanctions on Belarus for another year over internal repression and the Lukashenko government’s backing for Russia’s war. (consilium.europa.eu) Human rights groups say the repression has not ended. Freedom House rates Belarus “Not Free” with a score of 7 out of 100 in its 2026 report, and Viasna said there were 1,158 political prisoners in the country as of January 31, 2026. (freedomhouse.org) (spring96.org) Trump’s outreach to Lukashenko has already split Belarus’s opponents and outside analysts. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in August 2025 that exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya welcomed efforts to free prisoners, while other critics warned that direct contact risked legitimizing a ruler many Western governments had shunned since 2020. (rferl.org) The viral line about U.S. power fit that pattern: flatter Trump, signal openness to Washington, and still present Belarus as aligned with China and Russia. Lukashenko’s closing message in the clip was less about Trump personally than about warning the United States not to test Beijing after a public display of weakness elsewhere. (youtube.com) (eng.belta.by)