French
far-right leader Bardella slams Trump’s ‘imperial ambitions’ in Greenland,
Venezuela
The
National Rally boss criticized the U.S. president’s hawkish moves in a New
Year’s address.
January
12, 2026 6:32 pm CET
By Marion
Solletty
PARIS —
Donald Trump’s mounting threats toward Greenland are irking even his potential
allies in Europe.
Jordan
Bardella, president of France's far-right National Rally opposition party,
criticized the U.S. president’s pledge to seize the autonomous Danish territory
as “a direct challenge to the sovereignty of a European country” in his New
Year’s address to the press on Monday.
He also
cited the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as an example of recent U.S.
hawkish moves he opposes, warning against "a return to imperial ambitions”
and a world in which "the law of the strongest trumps respect of
international rules."
The
National Rally has been forced to perform a delicate dance when it comes to
Trump, whose administration last month hinted it was ready to throw its weight
between “patriotic European parties” in its bombshell national security
strategy.
In
contrast with his jabs at the U.S., Bardella didn't explicitly mention Russia
in his speech, although in response to a question from POLITICO he warned
against being too confrontational with Moscow.
"Russia
is today a multidimensional threat for a number of European interests," he
said. "But Russia is a nuclear power and ... it's never good in the world
that we know when two nuclear powers are staring each other in the face."
The
National Rally's past ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and its dovish
stance on support for Ukraine have fueled fears among Kyiv's allies that if
Bardella or his mentor Marine Le Pen accessed power, it would seriously dial
down Paris' leading role in the coalition of European countries willing to
provide security guarantees to the embattled country.
Bardella
reiterated his red lines concerning security guarantees on Monday, notably on
sending French ground troops, something he opposes. Asked whether he would
uphold the commitments that have been signed by President Emmanuel Macron, the
far-right leader said he supported "some of them."
Early
polling ahead of France's next presidential election, scheduled for 2027, shows
Bardella defeating all the other candidates polled. Marine Le Pen is the
party's official candidate but is currently under a five-year election ban
following her conviction in the embezzlement of EU funds last year. She is
trying to overturn that ban in an appeal trial that starts this week.
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