The president of Croatia stunned international media on Wednesday when he appeared at an unrelated press conference with a Make America Great Again hat, signaling his support for President-elect Donald Trump.

Zoran Milanović, who has served since 2020 and prior to that as the country’s prime minister, smiled and appeared excited for a second Trump administration as he sneaked behind another pol speaking with reporters and pulled out the red hat, lifting it up on to his head with a grin. The surprising MAGA moment got an enthusiastic reception from the Croation crowd of lawmakers and onlookers alike who laughed and applauded the stunt.

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Zoran Milanović, the President of Croatia, puts on a “Make America Great Again” ball cap during a press briefing.

World leaders are excited for America to have a competent President again pic.twitter.com/PZCqc2IoLD

— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_4_Trump) November 7, 2024

Far from being a conservative European leader like Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, Milanović is a formerly center-left politician ingratiated into Croatia’s liberal democratic government. At just 53, he is a youthful representative for the eastern European nation on the global stage though has rubbed other local politicians the wrong way, with some accusing him of brazen arrogance or having a DeSantis-like lack of common touch, Al-Jazeera previously reported. His campaign for president carried the slogan “President with Character,” a not-so-veiled reference to his reputation for being stubborn.

In a statement on Facebook, Milanović congratulated President-elect Donald Trump with warm words. “I congratulate Donald Trump on his victory and election as president of the United States of America. The new president of the USA was elected by a clear majority of American citizens out of all those who went to the polls, and in any democracy the will of the majority of voters is imperative. Since the acquisition of Croatian independence, the USA has was a partner and friend, I am convinced that this will remain the choice of the new president,” President Milanović wrote Wednesday. He was joined by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who added, “Congratulations to Donald Trump on a convincing victory and a second term as the U.S. President. I look forward to our cooperation and further advancing relations.”

Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on convincing victory and second term as the U.S. President. I look forward to our cooperation and further advancing 🇭🇷🇺🇸 relations.

— Andrej Plenković (@AndrejPlenkovic) November 6, 2024

After the deadly attempted assassination against Trump in July, Milanović called the brazen attack a “threat to life and democracy” and faulted American intelligence services for failing to preempt it. “The attempted assassination of Trump is a horrifying event that should not have happened. There wasn’t even a drone to monitor the area and immediately see what was happening, nor was it all secured in any approximately decent way. There are maniacs everywhere, but you can’t legally acquire, or own, long guns everywhere. And then between that and a shooting, there are just a few steps you need to climb and shoot. Luckily, he missed, but he killed one person, and two were seriously injured,” he told reporters at the time.

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