Donald Trump may have yet to win endorsements from top Republicans like Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush. But he has earned the support of several major politicians around the world.
Many of these figures, though, are controversial. Some run authoritarian regimes or seek elected office on extreme platforms. While a number identify with Trump's tough stance on immigration, others appear to support him because Trump's isolationist foreign-policy plans would benefit their own ambitions.
Here's a look at eight controversial politicians who are backing Donald Trump.
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Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, was one of the earliest figures, inside or outside the US, to throw express support for Trump.
"He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that," Putin said at a December press conference. "He is an absolute leader of the presidential race, as we see it today. He says that he wants to move to another level of relations, to a deeper level of relations with Russia. How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome it."
A Trump presidency would likely be beneficial for Russia — the billionaire has espoused an isolationist foreign policy, criticized NATO, and expressed personal admiration for Putin.
Russia has had an often contentious relationship with the United States in recent years.
"For the last two years all we heard from Western newspapers and TV was very critical of Russia," Victoria Zhuravleva, a Moscow-based expert on US-Russia relations, told Reuters. "So when you hear something that is not so critical and even more friendly towards your country it's like: 'Thank God, There's one person we can talk to: Donald Trump.'"
Geert Wilders
In December, Geert Wilders, the founder and leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, expressed his support for Donald Trump and his proposed temporary on Muslim immigration to the US.
"I hope [Trump] will be the next US President," he tweeted. "Good for America, good for Europe. We need brave leaders."
Wilders' political career has been defined, in large part, by anti-Islam statements. He produced a film in 2008 juxtaposing the Koran with 9/11 and other attacks, and compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in 2011.
Wilders proposed banning Muslim immigration in the EU in July
Wilders, who is hoping to be elected prime minister in March and plans on calling for a referendum on his country's EU membership, spoke to delegates at a "Gays for Trump" event held in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention.
“The situation in Europe today is worse than ever. Europe, as a matter of fact, is collapsing, is imploding, is exploding. We have terror attacks by the jihadis almost every week,"he said. “The reason for all of this of, course, is a policy decades long of open borders, open borders and cultural relativism; the biggest disease in Europe today."
Matteo Salvini
On April 25 — the anniversary of Italy's liberation from its fascist government in 1945 — far-right Italian politician Matteo Salvini met with Donald Trump in Philadelphia.
Afterward, he declared his unequivocal support for Trump, saying he prefers the "legality and security" of Trump's policies to the "disastrous" policies of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel.
Salvini leads the Northern League, or Lega Nord, which began as a separatist "anti-politics" party, according to Politico, advocating for the separation of the wealthier Northern Italy from the poorer south. The party has become steadily more mainstream in recent years as it was brought into the power structure by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. It has been characterized as "anti-immigrant" and "euroskeptic" under Salvini.
Salvini has expressed a number of radical views throughout his political career — including a claim in February that Benito Mussolini did great things as a World War II ally of Adolf Hitler.
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