U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's conviction and resulting prohibition from running in the 2027 presidential election was a "very big deal." A French court on Monday barred Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election after she was convicted of embezzlement.

It’s my political death they want,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen claimed in November – a prediction that proved prescient, though few took it seriously at the time.

Le Pen, the RN and two dozen party figures were accused of diverting more than 4 million Euros ($4.33 million) of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff. They had argued the money was used legitimately and that the allegations had defined too narrowly what a parliamentary assistant does.