Kaljulaid (SDE), a member of the Riigikogu's National Defense Committee, wrote on social media Tuesday evening that openly opposing Trump personally and the political movement he leads in such a way is a foreign policy mistake by Estonia's prime minister. "Not simply a mistake, but a big mistake," he said.

Speaking on Vikerraadio on Tuesday, Prime Minister Michal said he does not agree with the positions of the U.S. conservative movement Make America Great Again (MAGA) and suggested that these views are promoted in Estonia by the current opposition parties EKRE, Isamaa and the Center Party.

"The Reform Party is, by its nature, Western-minded, in favor of a strong Europe and a good transatlantic relationship, but we must certainly distinguish that from the MAGA ideology – it certainly is not a guiding ideology here in Europe, in Estonia," Michal emphasized.

According to Kaljulaid, the timing of expressing such a view is also significant. "Only recently, the U.S. Congress supported providing security assistance to Estonia. A very unfortunate moment to build an internal political value conflict along the axis of U.S.-Estonia relations."

Kaljulaid said it is self-evident that the Reform Party, as a neoliberal party, does not identify with U.S. conservatives. However, in his view there is no reason why Estonia's prime minister should separately emphasize that he personally and Estonia as a whole stand in opposition to what U.S. conservatives currently consider the most important values and attitudes for their core voters.

"A person who holds this office (prime minister – ed.) must proceed from national interests and it is not in Estonia's national interest to disparage the worldview of the U.S. president, vice president, defense secretary and numerous influential officials," Kaljulaid stressed. "In Estonia's foreign policy it should be elementary that we do not take sides in the domestic politics of other countries."

According to Kaljulaid, diplomacy requires seeking common ground with allies and building bridges, not looking for "opportunities to somehow humiliate or insult the other side."

"In essence, the prime minister is saying that the policies pursued by the current U.S. president are of questionable value and off-putting for the Reform Party. Why should the U.S. political leadership, which represents this worldview, treat us with particular understanding in the future after such an incomprehensible rhetorical attack?" he asked.

"What does Estonia gain from telling these people at the level of the head of government that the U.S. president and his views are wrong for us? Can you imagine the president of our neighboring country, [Alexander] Stubb, charging into a china shop in such a way and knocking over the display cases? Of course not," he continued.

"Of course this statement was not accidental. It is the Reform Party's strategic choice to throw U.S.-Estonia bilateral relations into the trash in order to gain a bit of fame and score a point. What point they hope to score from this remains a genuine mystery to me," Kaljulaid concluded.

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