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Charles Kushner, the US ambassador to France, posted a photo on his social media accounts on Friday showing him smiling alongside Marine Le Pen and Jourdan Bardella, the most senior officials of the National Rally party.
He wrote in the caption that he appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the National Rally’s economic and social program, which he said allowed him to better understand “their vision of what awaits France.”
The Huffington Post wrote that this was not the man’s first meeting with French political figures, as he had previously met with Edouard Philippe, Bruno Rotay, and Laurent Nunez. But the meeting with the leaders of the French far-right party took on a new dimension as the United States continues to reshape its international alliances under Donald Trump.
On December 5, a document outlining the US national security strategy was released, detailing Trump’s new doctrine. The document sharply criticized the European Union, describing it as “weak” and “in decline.” It also warned of Europe’s “civilizational decline” due to its “immigration policies.”
The rapprochement of Kushner, one of Trump’s closest aides, to two European far-right leaders is not a simple or trivial matter. It has provoked reactions from some left-wing political figures.
Manon Aubry, a member of the European Parliament from the left-wing “France Insurrection” party, condemned the National Rally’s action as “serving foreign interests.”
She accused the far-right party of “blindly rushing to destabilize its own country in the service of Trump’s intervention doctrine.”
The Huffington Post continued: “The greatest public concern is that the upcoming elections in France, and especially the presidential election scheduled for 2027, will create space for foreign interference and pressure.”
Aurélien Saintoul, a representative of the France Insurrection party in the country’s parliament, said: “This photo shows Marine Le Pen and her trainee (Bardella) coming to take orders from Donald Trump’s representative.”
Pierre Jouvet, the secretary general of the Socialist Party, agreed, saying that Le Pen and Bardella were nothing more than “Trump and Putin’s candidates” in France.
Bardella insisted on Thursday, the day before he met with Kushner, that he had no special ties to the US government.
“I do not admire any foreign leader,” he said in an interview with the BFM TV network, which specifically focused on the war in Ukraine.
But he was quick to add that he was very happy that there are courageous leaders in the Western camp, like Giorgia Meloni [in Italy] or Donald Trump, who want to stop the war and can sit down and talk to determine the terms of peace.
The US embassy in Paris, perhaps to quell the controversy, told AFP that it “is in regular contact with a wide range of political parties and authorities and intends to continue to do so.”