France's PM slams Trump’s support for Le Pen as "interference" in French politics

French Prime Minister François Bayrou, in an interview with Le Parisien, called U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for Marine Le Pen — the leader of the far-right National Rally party’s parliamentary group — following her court conviction, an act of “interference.”

“Interference has become the law of the world. There are two things in this statement: first, there are no longer any borders for major political debates. Everything that happens here is relayed to Washington. And we are rightly concerned about what is happening, for example, in Türkiye,” Bayrou shared, Caliber.Az reports.

He added that there is also a fundamental struggle at play, one rooted in the belief that for the past 75 years, Europe had trusted that the concept of democracy and the rule of law would inevitably spread across the globe.

​U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly expressed support for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen following her recent conviction. On April 1, 2025, Trump referred to the French court's decision to ban Le Pen from seeking public office for five years as "a very big deal," drawing parallels to his own legal experiences.  

​Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN) party, has been convicted of embezzlement related to the misuse of European Union funds intended for parliamentary assistants. The court sentenced her to four years in prison, with two years suspended and the remaining two to be served under house arrest. Additionally, she faces a five-year ban from public office, effectively barring her from running in the 2027 presidential election unless she successfully appeals. ​

The case, known as the "National Front assistants affair," involved allegations that Le Pen and other RN members diverted over €4.1 million in EU funds between 2004 and 2016. These funds were allegedly used to pay party staff in France rather than for legitimate parliamentary assistance. Le Pen maintains her innocence, arguing that the allegations misinterpret the role of parliamentary assistants.

By Khagan Isayev