Machiavellian is now here, backing European president (10)
I believe the answer is:
eisenhower
'president' is the definition.
(I know that Eisenhower is a president)
'machiavellian is now here backing european' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'is' is present in the answer.
'european' could be 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU) and 'e' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eisenhower that I've seen before include "1950s president" , "General, President, 'Ike'" , "US president nineteen fifty three to nineteen sixty one" , "American general" , "US president and general" .)