New Zealand’s coalition government, led by the right-wing National Party, wasted no time in congratulating fascist Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election and promising to strengthen the military-intelligence alliance between the two countries.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a statement praising “strong and enduring” ties with the United States, saying: “I look forward to developing even closer relations with the incoming Trump Administration.”

“We will continue to work in partnership with the United States to advance our common long-term interests, particularly by further developing our trade and economic relations and building security and resilience in the Indo-Pacific,” he emphasized.

New Zealand is a minor imperialist power with interests in the Pacific region and internationally. It is part of the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance (which also includes Australia, Canada and the UK). The country has been integrated into US-led wars: The current government has sent military personnel to help bomb Yemen and sent military personnel to the UK to train Ukrainian soldiers in the US-NATO war against Russia.

Successive Labor and National Party governments have also supported US militarization of the Indo-Pacific in preparation for war against China. Talks are ongoing for New Zealand to join the AUKUS military agreement, which involves the US and UK providing Australia with military technology as well as nuclear-powered submarines and other weapons.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB on Thursday, Foreign Minister Winston Peters compared Trump’s victory to his return to parliament as leader of the right-wing nationalist New Zealand First Party. “We have a similar path,” he said. “You see what happened after 2020, he went out and talked to people all over the United States and pulled himself together.”