Marine Le Pen is back in court.Image: keystone
The appointment process of the presidential candidate and party founder begins in Paris. Donald Trump is helping out – or is he doing her more harm than good?
January 12, 2026, 10:15 p.mJanuary 12, 2026, 10:15 p.m
Stefan Brändle, Paris / ch media
What is the process about?
The trial could determine France’s political future. Twelve representatives of the Rassemblement National (formerly Front National) are expected to attend their appeal process in Paris from Tuesday. Last year, 24 of them were sentenced to prison and fines for embezzling subsidy money. The trick was to pose party employees as personal parliamentary assistants to MEPs. In this way, they received wage subsidies totaling 4.1 million euros from the European Parliament.
Who was convicted?
Prominent RN leaders such as Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan, MEP Catherine Griset or right-wing veterans such as Bruno Gollnisch and Wallerand de Saint-Just received at least a year in prison. But that was a minor matter compared to Marine Le Pen. The party founder received four years in prison, half of which was with an ankle bracelet, a fine of 100,000 euros and five years of ineligibility. In fact, her appeal has no suspensive effect, as the judge ordered “interim execution” – an instrument of the French legal system that is normally ordered when there is a risk of absconding or imminent reoffending.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella last summer in Mormant-sur-Vernisson.Image: IMAGO / IP3press
How does Washington get involved?
Le Pen sees this as a “political judgment” aimed at preventing her from running for president. This thesis also found a broad response abroad – in the USA, President Donald Trump spoke of a “witch hunt” against a politician who “probably knew nothing about the minor crime”. In fact, the occult financial system even converged in Le Pen’s office. There is no lack of evidence and witness statements. Anything other than confirmation of the first instance verdict – and thus also of ineligibility – would therefore be a miracle.
In order to refute the alleged persecution of Le Pen by the judiciary, the appeal court has agreed to hand down the verdict this summer. In the event of an acquittal, the promising presidential candidate could still take part in the elections to the Elysée. Even the Court of Cassation, which Le Pen could appeal in the third instance for formal errors, would announce its decision before the presidential elections, as its chairman explained last week. Le Pen can therefore no longer play for time.
Can Trump bail out Le Pen?
According to newspaper reports, the US President wants to impose personal sanctions such as internet or credit card bans on all French judges who sentence the 57-year-old Frenchwoman. That would be a serious intervention in the French justice system, which Le Pen himself is against. The nationalist also condemned Trump’s military action in Venezuela, saying that the sovereignty of any country is “never negotiable.”
Will Le Pen throw in the towel in the fall?
Le Pen seems to be slowly realizing that the overwhelming burden of evidence and time are against her. Insiders expect that she will withdraw her fourth, this time promising, presidential candidacy until the fall. With Jordan Bardella, the Rassemblement National has a replacement arrow in its quiver. The formal party president is even slightly more popular in polls than Le Pen: 39 percent of French people have a good opinion of him and 37 percent of her. President Emmanuel Macron can no longer run; his former prime minister Edouard Philippe is falling in the polls.
How strong is Bardella?
Bardella is not yet a sure bet for the upcoming presidential election. The only 30-year-old has neither held a job nor held a political mandate. He is also considered Le Pen’s “lion cub”, who would be eternally beholden to his political mother and would remain on a short leash even in the Elysée. That’s not exactly what people in France imagine a strong and sovereign Elysée ruler to be.
The French right-wing populists therefore have two options, neither of which are really convincing. The judiciary should make the decision for them. And as it looks at the beginning of the appeal process, Le Pen has the worse cards – while Bardella, thanks to his young age, is one of the few RN grandees not to be involved in the embezzlement process. (aargauerzeitung.ch)