Trump endorses Pashinyan ahead of Armenia’s high-stakes, historic elections
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Trump endorsed PM Pashinyan by calling on Armenians to “Make Armenia Great Again“ ahead of the decisive June elections. The US and EU’s support for Armenia’s pro-West course and Russia's mounting economic pressure to counter Pashinyan mark the geopolitical juncture.
US President Donald Trump expressed on Thursday his “complete and total endorsement for re-election” of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the upcoming election, the first time a US president has endorsed a candidate in a country on Russia’s regional orbit.
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In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump called Pashinyan a “great friend and leader,” adding that he is “making his country strong, wealthy, and very secure” ahead of Armenia’s decisive elections on 7 June, fiercely contested between the Armenian premier's camp and the opposing forces supported by Russia.
Referring to Pashinyan signing a historic peace agreement at the White House with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev last year, Trump said that “Nikol completely shares my vision of peace and prosperity for Armenia and the entire South Caucasus region”.
The Armenian PM thanked Trump “for the high appreciation,” adding the US and Armenian flags side by side in his brief response on X.
Trump linked his rare endorsement to the “strategic” deals signed earlier this week in Yerevan by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Armenian counterpart, signalling the reinforced US involvement in the region.
"Soon, the United States and Armenia will break ground together on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, which will transform the South Caucasus, and help our wonderful American energy companies gain access from Central Asia all the way to the United States," Trump said.
“With Nikol's help, we will bring the United States, Armenia, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia to greater heights than ever before,” ending the post by proclaiming “Make (Armenia) Great Again — MAGA!”
Trump’s endorsement echoes French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement during the recent European Political Community summit in Yerevan.
At the summit, the French leader said that with Armenia’s “turn toward Europe, we are now witnessing the opening of a new era" for the South Caucasus country, which under Pashinyan is now building its peaceful future alongside its former rival Azerbaijan as well as Turkey.
RelatedAppearing next to Trump in the White House on Wednesday, Rubio reiterated that the US “signed a critical minerals agreement with Armenia, a reminder of another war President Trump helped settle,” referring to the historic Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement.
"We are seeing the emergence of a great new relationship with Armenia that really had grown stagnant for a long period of time," Rubio added.
The critical rare-earth minerals, vital to modern technologies, and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) trade routing deals between Armenia and the US are not only major economic achievements for Washington, but also signal a crucial US geopolitical pivot in a region dominated economically by Russia and sought after by China too.
Trump’s endorsement and the latest deals agreed with Yerevan continue cementing Pashinyan’s push for Armenia’s pro-Western course, as he continues campaigning head-on against an opposition openly supported by Russia.
Amid widespread allegations of Russian interference in Armenia’s election campaign, the Kremlin has ramped up its repeated warnings to Yerevan for its western path, threatening that it would end its cheap gas and oil supplies and enforce further bans on key Armenian exports to Russia, both of which are vital to Armenia.
In a repeat of tactics used on Georgia and Moldova before, in addition to the critical energy threat, Russia increased its economic pressure on Pashinyan’s government by banning Armenian exports of mineral water, wines and brandy in an apparent show of consequences of a possible Pashinyan victory on 7 June.
Pashinyan has so far avoided openly confronting Moscow. He however continued attacking his opponents, accusing them of working with foreign intelligence services.
In a direct rebuke of Belarus leader Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who said “Armenia is not needed by anyone,” Pashinyan said on Thursday that "Armenia is no longer a country of thousands and tens of thousands, but a country of billions and trillions.”
“This is no longer a country that you and your partners robbed," Pashinyan concluded.
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