US President Donald Trump on Tuesday described Marine Le Pen as the “conservative voice” in France amid a wave of unrest shaking the country, while stopping short of offering a formal endorsement of the far-right candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“I don’t know her, I haven’t met her, but I think she has been treated badly. It makes me think of a weaponization” of the justice system, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when an AFP journalist asked whether he supported Le Pen.
A Nod to Her Polling Lead
“It seems to me, you know, that she was ahead. But after this (the violence), she is clearly… she is the conservative voice,” the US president said.
When Le Pen was convicted at first instance in March 2025 and handed a five-year ban from public office for embezzlement of public funds, Trump had already denounced what he called a “witch hunt” waged by “European leftists who use the judicial weapon to silence freedom of expression.” Le Pen has since seen her sentence reduced to 15 months, already served, allowing her to contest the 2027 election, in which she is the overwhelming favorite in the polls.
Elon Musk, who has been deeply involved in European elections and accused of interference, said in July that Le Pen was “the last hope of France.”
Le Pen Keeps Her Distance
For several years, Le Pen has sought to temper her support for Trump, unlike some of her far-right allies in Europe who are far more enthusiastic.
After describing his 2016 election as “good news” for France, she was more restrained in 2024, offering him her “wishes for success” and declaring that “American democracy has clearly expressed itself and Americans have freely given themselves the president they chose.”
More recently, she has been more critical of Trump, particularly over his intervention in Iran — “He is doing the opposite of what he promised,” she said in June — and denounced as “very insulting” his remarks toward Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Yet she finds common ground with the US president on other issues, notably aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia. The National Rally candidate has said she would “maintain it for six months” after her election before cutting it off, “because we no longer have the means to do so.”
In April 2025, after her first-instance conviction, Ipsos research director Mathieu Gallard explained why Trump’s backing was “very awkward” for Le Pen. “It has not escaped RN leaders that Donald Trump is very unpopular in France. The various dimensions of his policy — internationally, on Ukraine, his remarks on Gaza, his trade strategy or even societal aspects — are widely rejected in public opinion,” he said.
Trump Seizes on French Unrest
The situation in France has animated the US president in recent days. He has repeatedly seized on the looting and riots that have rocked the country to amplify his anti-immigration rhetoric ahead of November’s midterm elections, which look difficult for the Republican Party amid high inflation.
At a rally in Kansas on Monday, he opened with a long passage devoted to France, which he said had been “taken over, looted and set on fire by migrants, jihadists and communists.”
“Migrants have conquered France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, AND FAST,” he had written earlier Monday on his Truth Social network.
