“President Trump’s second term is very significantly different from the first,” Bardella said, noting Trump was “harder to read.” Washington, he added, now views itself as “an empire” with a sphere of influence in the Western hemisphere. “It is threatening to Europe in the sense that it impacts many European countries — not France — with this fear of American disengagement.”
Bardella also rejected a potential endorsement from Trump, who has attempted to influence elections in Hungary, Poland and Argentina by backing leaders who align with his politics. “The support we’re seeking with Marine Le Pen is that of the French people, the support of French voters,” he said. “We don’t need to open the door to any form of interference.”
He struck a reassuring tone on European defense and NATO
Bardella, speaking ahead of a trip to Poland aimed at burnishing his international credentials, sought to reassure French allies concerned about the National Rally’s stance on NATO.
The party is traditionally isolationist, and while Bardella has endorsed Le Pen’s long-standing pledge to withdraw France from NATO’s integrated military command, he has said he will wait until after the war in Ukraine is over.
“One doesn’t redefine the framework of treaties in times of war,” he said. “Therefore, our priority will be to work, through new French leadership, to restore peace at Europe’s doorstep, first through a ceasefire in Ukraine and then to the establishment of security guarantees that must allow Ukraine to defend its borders.”
The far-right leader also backed raising defense spending to 3 percent of GDP between 2030 and 2035, calling it essential to France’s freedom and security. He said that security commitments made to Eastern flank allies, including Romania and the Baltic states, would be upheld if his party comes to power.