With Trump back in charge, key Georgian Dream officials have been expressing their views on the changing US-Georgia dynamics this week.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday suggested that the need for Georgia’s domestic law on the transparency of foreign influence may no longer be necessary. His remarks followed US President Trump’s executive order on January 22 to temporarily suspend all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days to reassess their alignment with US policy goals. Mdinaradze claimed that Trump’s decision had effectively “proven” the necessity of the transparency law. He added, “Let them now call this decision by Trump ‘Russian’,” referencing Georgia’s opposition’s labeling of the controversial law.
Georgia’s “foreign influence” law, enacted last year, requires non-commercial entities and media outlets in the country to register if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. The law has been a point of contention within Georgia’s political sphere, particularly among opposition parties, who view it as an attempt to stifle free expression.
Wednesday also saw Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, hitting out at Laura Thornton, Senior Director of the Global Democracy Program at the McCain Institute, who publicly criticized US President Trump, calling him a “rapist and criminal.” In response, Papuashvili accused Thornton of prioritizing her political agenda over Georgia’s relationship with the United States. He criticized her approach as emblematic of the “deep state,” an underground political network he claimed Trump would “successfully deal with.”
Papuashvili added, “The statement made by Salome Zurabishvili’s employer during a discussion about President Trump’s role in Georgia-US relations reveals that it is not the issue of Georgia-US relations that is important to her, but rather pursuing the agenda of her own political group.”
In a show of optimism, Maka Botchorishvili, Georgian Dream’s Foreign Minister, congratulated Marco Rubio on his appointment as US Secretary of State, expressing hopes for stronger US-Georgia relations under his leadership. “I very much look forward to fostering cooperation and strengthening ties between our two countries under your leadership,” she wrote in a social media message. Rubio, who was confirmed by the Senate with unanimous support, marks the first Latin American origin person to hold the position of Secretary of State.
On Tuesday, Georgian parliamentarian Levan Makhashvili reinforced the ruling Georgian Dream party’s commitment to revitalizing ties with the United States. He emphasized that US policy under Trump would be “entirely tailored to ensure that America gains as much benefit as possible.” Makhashvili also suggested that Trump may take steps to dismantle or reassess liberal ideologies. He pointed to decisions such as Trump’s stance on gender and traditional family values, as well as his strong immigration policies, as indicators of the direction the US under Trump might take.
Reflecting on the broader scope of these policy shifts, Makhashvili stated, “The alignment on fundamental issues gives us hope that relations between Georgia and the United States will be rebooted. We are fully prepared for this.”
By Team GT
