In 1993, Samuelsen got a master's degree in political science from Aarhus University.[1] From 1994 to 1998, he was a consultant and section manager at the College for the Deaf, Castberggård.[1]
By late 2016, Samuelsen threatened to bring down the government of Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen because of disagreements over tax cuts, immigration and welfare policies. In September 2016, he announced that his party was ready to file a motion of no confidence if Rasmussen failed to cut the top rate of income tax by 5 percentage points in the 2017 budget.[3] In response, Rasmussen reshuffled his cabinet to have the Liberal Alliance join the government and take the leadership of six ministries.[4]
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Under Samuelsen's leadership, the government won parliamentary approval in January 2017 to deploy up to 60 special forces to fight Islamic State in Syria as part of the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve.[5] The government later committed to sending an additional 55 soldiers to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan; the decision was made to boost security efforts after a car bomber attacked a Danish convoy in September 2017.[6]
Following his party's poor results at the 2019 general election, Samuelsen was publicly accused of nepotism by fellow party member Henrik Dahl.[7] Due to Samuelsen failing at getting reelected, he resigned as party leader on 6 June 2019.[8]