Trump says Le Pen's conviction in France is a 'very big deal'

By Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said connected Monday that French far-right person Marine Le Pen's condemnation and resulting prohibition from moving successful the 2027 statesmanlike predetermination was a "very large deal."

A French tribunal connected Monday barred Le Pen from moving successful the 2027 statesmanlike predetermination aft she was convicted of embezzlement.

"That's a precise large deal," Trump told reporters astatine the White House connected Monday evening erstwhile asked astir that conviction.

Rights advocates person drawn comparisons implicit the years betwixt Le Pen and Trump implicit their anti-immigration views and charged rhetoric against minorities.

The French court's ruling was a setback for Le Pen, 56. The National Rally (RN) enactment main is 1 of the astir salient figures of the European acold right, and a front-runner successful polls for France's 2027 contest.

"I cognize each astir it, and a batch of radical thought she wasn't going to beryllium convicted of anything," Trump said.

"But she was banned for moving for 5 years, and she's the starring candidate. That sounds similar this country, that sounds precise overmuch similar this country," Trump said, successful an evident notation to ineligible cases that Trump himself faced earlier helium took office.

Trump was indicted implicit covering up a hush wealth outgo to a porn star, implicit attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 predetermination that helium mislaid and implicit retention of classified documents aft his archetypal word ended. He was convicted successful the hush wealth case. He denied wrongdoing successful each cases that helium called politically motivated.

Federal charges against him were dropped pursuing his 2024 predetermination win.

France's High Council of the Judiciary successful a connection connected Monday expressed its interest implicit what it called "virulent reactions" provoked by the ruling aft Le Pen's allies successful France and far-right leaders from European countries condemned it.

"Threats personally targeting the magistrates successful complaint of the case, conscionable similar statements by governmental leaders connected the merits of the prosecution oregon the conviction, peculiarly during the deliberations, cannot beryllium accepted successful a antiauthoritarian society," it said, calling for moderation.

Others applauded the ruling against Le Pen, saying the independency of the judiciary and the regularisation of instrumentality indispensable beryllium respected aft the justice convicted her of misappropriating European Union funds to payment her party

Le Pen's five-year nationalist bureau prohibition cannot beryllium suspended by appeal, though she volition clasp her parliamentary spot until her word ends. She besides received a four-year situation condemnation - 2 years of which are suspended and 2 years to beryllium served nether location detention - and a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine, but they volition not use until her appeals are exhausted.

(This communicative has been refiled to region an extraneous connection 'what' successful paragraph 4)

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, penning by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Aurora Ellis)