PARIS ¨C A U.S. State Department delegation met with senior officials from France¡¯s National Rally (RN) in late May, but their offer to publicly support figurehead Marine Le Pen after a court barred her from office was rebuffed by the far-right party, two sources said.
Le Pen, one of the most prominent figures of the European far right, was a front-runner for the 2027 French presidential election before a court in March banned her from the contest after she was convicted of embezzling EU funds. U.S. President Donald Trump and other right-wing leaders were quick to rally behind her, alleging political censorship.
The U.S. delegation that visited Paris was led by Samuel Samson, an official at the State Department¡¯s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). He is part of an influx of young conservatives rising up the ranks of Trump¡¯s administration.
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