analysis
The French right-wing populist Marine Pen is fighting for her presidential candidacy in an appeal process. With the active support of the USA.
January 26, 2026, 05:03January 26, 2026, 05:03
Stefan Brändle, Paris / ch media
“Why are American diplomats so interested in the legal fate of Marine Le Pen?” The broadcaster France-Info was astonished by its own revelation: the US administration is blatantly trying to influence a French court hearing. This was confirmed by lawyer Magali Lafourcade, who works full-time for the French Human Rights Commission.
Marine Le Pen receives support from abroad.Image: keystone
In this capacity, as she also said on television, she was contacted by two representatives of the American State Department in the middle of last year. The two Americans mentioned by name, Christopher Anderson and Samuel Samson, generally cited human rights as the reason. During the conversation, however, they quickly turned the conversation to the trial of the right-wing presidential candidate Le Pen, who was sentenced in the first instance in 2025 to a four-year prison sentence with a five-year ineligibility for embezzlement of parliamentary funds; The appeal process is currently underway in Paris.
Lafourcade was astonished when the two Americans politely but very firmly claimed that the whole procedure was a “purely political process”; It represents a “manipulation of French public opinion” in an attempt to keep Le Pen away from the presidential elections in spring 2027.
According to Lafourcade, the attempt at diplomatic pressure is a novelty, even if such meetings between representatives of friendly foreign ministries are frequent. In this case, the conversation was part of systematic American interference. At the beginning of this year, the chairman of the French criminal justice system, Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, officially protested against “unacceptable interference” by the US authorities. According to the news magazine Spiegel, they are planning or planning to ban the judges in the Le Pen trial from entering the USA. Washington denied it.
However, the press revelations fit with statements made by President Donald Trump, who last year denounced a “witch hunt” against Le Pen on his Truth Social channel. The appeal court and the Court of Cassation, which was then called upon, even accommodated Le Pen: they accelerated the legal proceedings in order to enable the defendant to run for office in the event of an acquittal.
In the matter, however, things are looking bad for Le Pen: After she flatly denied the covert remuneration of party employees with EU funds in the first instance trial in 2025, she now had to sheepishly admit to “negligence” in the ongoing appeal process this week.
If something goes against him or his ideology, it’s a witch hunt: Donald Trump.Image: keystone
Why the Trump administration is so committed to the interests of Le Pen, but also the German AfD party, is becoming increasingly clear: behind this is not only support for like-minded people, but also an attempt to break up European unity. The EU in its current form would certainly not survive the entry of Le Pen or, if applicable, her right-hand man Jordan Bardella into the Elysée. (aargauerzeitung.ch)