Trump and European right cite Ceuta migrant surge

US President Donald Trump and several European right-wing politicians used the migrant surge into Spain's Ceuta enclave on Friday to argue for tougher migration policies and to criticise political opponents.

Fox News quoted Trump as saying images from Ceuta were a warning for the United States if Democrats win power. “That's going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in,” he was quoted as saying.

Ceuta is a Spanish territory on the Moroccan coast. News footage showed migrants overwhelming barriers to enter the enclave, and the images aired repeatedly on Fox News and spread through right-wing Trump-allied social media accounts.

Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel wrote on X that Germany should secure its borders and enforce rejections. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finland's populist right-wing ruling coalition called for excluding Spain from Europe's visa-free zone over the situation.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the Ceuta situation was caused by Spain's policy of giving legal status to hundreds of thousands of migrants already in the country.

The Trump administration also focused on the crisis. The State Department blamed Spain's government for what it called deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe. It also said Washington was considering actions to defend Americans at home and abroad, without giving details.

US Vice President JD Vance posted footage of the Ceuta migrant wave and described it as evidence of “radical left-wing globalist policies”. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also posted video of the crisis and used it to criticise Democrats.