In November 2020, Sitiveni Rabuka broke the diplomatic convention of avoiding partisan commentary on other countries’ politics by publicly declaring support for Donald Trump in the U.S. elections. Then a member of the opposition with the Social Democratic and Liberal Party (SODELPA), Rabuka – who is now serving as Fiji’s prime minister – cited Trump’s backing of Israel as his rationale.
“I will wait until all avenues are exhausted and victory confirmed before I react. I supported him in the last elections, although I am not a U.S. voter, because he supports Israel,” Rabuka stated on social media.
After Trump’s first term – during which his administration implemented the so-called Muslim ban, announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, and dismissed immigrants from the African continent as coming from “shithole countries” – Rabuka saw fit to comment on another country’s democratic process by expressing solidarity with Trump’s unfounded claim that he had won the presidential election in 2020.
In the days following the 2020 U.S. elections, Rabuka drew parallels with his then party SODELPA’s contestation of the 2018 Fiji elections, adding, “Now I am just giving President Trump time to exhaust the avenues available to him to question the results published in the media in the time allowed to him by the US Constitution, or if he concedes defeat in the meantime.”
Trump went beyond exhausting “the avenues available to him” to try to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. In 2023, Trump became the first U.S. president to be indicted and convicted of criminal charges. Notable among the indictments was his alleged attempt to overthrow the 2020 U.S. election after refusing to accept the results (the case was abandoned following his victory in the 2024 election, but the prosecutor was confident Trump would have been convicted if not for presidential immunity).
Although far from the only political actor in Fiji to express support for the Trump administration, Rabuka remains the most prominent and dedicated. On the international stage as well, Rabuka’s full-throated support for Trump – and Israel – has determined government policy.
In February 2024, Fiji’s coalition government – now led by Rabuka as prime minister and foreign minister after contesting the 2022 elections with the People’s Alliance – delivered an oral statement at the International Court of Justice in support of Israel on the matter of Israel’s policies in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Fiji was the only country besides the United States to do so. In September, Fiji was among seven Pacific countries to vote against a resolution brought before the United Nations General Assembly to end Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
By contrast, Fiji’s role in the Pacific student-led campaign to seek an Advisory Opinion from the ICJ on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, championed from the outset by Vanuatu, was relatively muted in the December 2024 submissions at The Hague.
By February, Fiji’s Cabinet had endorsed the establishment of an embassy in Jerusalem, echoing the precedent set by the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. With Fiji’s longstanding ties with Israel, it became one of a handful countries to establish a diplomatic mission in the city. To mark the occasion, Rabuka received a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes, referring to Netanyahu as his “friend.”
Last November, Rabuka congratulated Trump on his second election victory, expressing hopes for “deepening bilateral ties” with the United States. When the Trump administration’s mass deportations unfolded in January, Rabuka downplayed them as a “sovereign right.” In February, Rabuka attended and led a prayer at the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.
But the winds shifted in April, when the U.S. government imposed 32 percent tariffs on Fijian exports, part of a sweeping package of tariffs dubbed “Liberation Day” by Trump. That’s not far below the 34 percent rate imposed on China, the United States’ avowed major geopolitical rival.
For all the prime minister’s cordiality and convention-breaking solidarity for Trump, Rabuka confirmed his coalition government was caught unawares by the tariffs, saying, “At the moment, we’re taking it on the chin right now.”
Despite passively accepting U.S. tariffs with a “taking it on the chin” approach, Rabuka’s leadership has demonstrated that Fiji is more than willing to assert its support for Israel, Netanyahu, and Trump. The coalition government has actively spoken out and taken steps to defend parties engaged in violence and warmongering. Moral aspersions aside, it would make pragmatic sense if Fiji’s position had economic or security payoffs for ordinary Fiji citizens, yet that has not been the case. Domestic public services remain in crisis and Trump’s tariffs made no move to spare Fiji despite Rabuka’s stated affinity for the controversial U.S. president.
The tariffs are a reminder that siding with power is not only morally indefensible, but ultimately ineffective. Fiji’s economy remains stagnant, and neither the United States nor Israel appears interested in serving as trajectory-changing social or economic partners. The country may find itself turning to partnerships that the coalition government had previously scaled down, including its relationship with China.
As Winston Churchill said, “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Himself an instrument of empire, Churchill knew what he was talking about. Fiji’s attempt to use misplaced reason, civility, or even the tried and true militarized masculinity has not proven a fruitful tactic.
Considering the coalition government has not shown equivalent solidarity with fellow Pacific peoples of Kanaky, West Papua, or Maohi Nui, Rabuka’s Ocean of Peace has revealed itself as one of appeasement in the face of empire.
History shows it is solidarity, not appeasement, that turns the tide on abusive and oppressive powers. As U.S. hostility has grown more apparent, there are calls for economic democracy, in which institutions, organizations, and practices “break away from the destructive and oligarchical tendencies of the current system,” centering the needs of people and workers rather than corporations.
Solidarity and economic democracy in the interests of everyday citizens require imagination, organizing, and meeting power head-on – qualities Fiji’s coalition government has failed to demonstrate.
