08.58 BST
Morning
opening: Welcome to the new normal
Jakub Krupa
Somewhere
between ecstatic posts about the effect of tariffs – leaving markets in turmoil
with losses in trillions of dollars …
and about
$5m Trump golden card for wealthy immigrants looking to move to the US…
the US
president, Donald Trump, took a moment last night to use his social media
channels to offer his full backing for the French far-right leader Marine Le
Pen.
In a post on
Truth Social, he said:
The Witch
Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using
Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent, this time
going so far as to put that Opponent in prison.
…
I don’t
know Marine Le Pen, but do appreciate how hard she worked for so many years.
She suffered losses, but kept on going, and now, just before what would be a
Big Victory, they get her on a minor charge that she probably knew nothing
about – Sounds like a “bookkeeping” error to me. It is all so bad for France,
and the Great French People, no matter what side they are on. FREE MARINE LE
PEN!
To avoid any
doubt:
Marine Le
Pen was this week found guilty of the embezzlement of European parliamentary
funds through a fake jobs scam of an unprecedented scale and duration.
No, she is
not in prison; if anything, she could continue a long tradition among French
politicians and get an electronic tag. And the court was very clear that it
wasn’t just a “book-keeping” error.
Not that any
of this mattered to Trump.
His comments
targeting the French judiciary and fuelling Le Pen’s narrative come at a time
of growing tensions with the US, after signs that even president Emmanuel
Macron, who previously tried to position himself as a European Trump whisperer,
is losing patience with the US president over the succession of crises in
foreign, defence and economic policy.
Visibly
frustrated, he went as far yesterday as to suggest that French companies should
review and suspend their investments in the US until there is more clarity
about US tariffs.
Trump’s
comments also come at the opportune moment for the far-right, ahead of a
“completely peaceful” rally in Paris on Sunday aimed at showing the support for
the politician convicted of embezzling EU funds.
Le Pen will
speak at the event alongside her ally – and potential stand-in for the 2027
presidential race – Jordan Bardella as well as mayor of “the laboratory for the
far right” Perpignan Louis Aliot and Éric Ciotti.
A part of
the French left is preparing a counter demonstration, too. Sounds like a lovely
lively spring weekend in Paris.
With the
appeal court looking to fast-track Le Pen’s appeal so that a verdict could come
in mid-2026, early enough to allow her to take part in the 2027 vote if she is
successful, this story is set to feature prominently in the French politics for
the foreseeable future.
Welcome to
the new normal.
But at least
it’s Friday, 4 April 2025.
It’s Jakub
Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good
morning.
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