Trump 'asks UN ambassador to debrief him' on upcoming Macron vs Le Pen presidential duel
DONALD Trump has asked a UN ambassador to bring him up-to-date on the upcoming Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron battle for the French presidency, it has been claimed.
DONALD Trump has asked a UN ambassador to bring him up-to-date on the upcoming French election
François Delattre, the French ambassador to the United Nations, said the US President had expressed a keen interest in France’s roller-coaster presidential race.
Mr Delattre said that Mr Trump had asked to speak to him “in private” during a UN Security Council meeting at the White House on Monday – the day after the results of the first round of voting were announced – to find out more the current political climate in France.
He said: “Mr Trump and I had a private conversation during which he asked me to update him on the French presidential election. I tried to put things into perspective for him by giving him an overview of the current political scene.”
Just last week, Mr Trump – whose surprise win against Democrat Hillary Clinton in November sent shockwaves around the world – said that the terrorist attack on the Champs-Elysées in Paris that claimed the life of a 37-year-old police officer would “probably help” Ms Le Pen win votes.
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen are battling for the French presidency
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Donald Trump has taken a keen interest in the upcoming elections
Whilst Mr Trump did not officially endorse Ms Le Pen’s candidacy, he said that the deadly attack would have a “big effect” on the presidential election and would help bolster her chances of winning power because “she is the strongest on borders and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France”.
Mr Macron, a former banker with little government experience, won 24.01 per cent of the vote in the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, whilst his nearest opponent, Ms Le Pen, the leader of France’s nationalist Front National party, won 21.30 per cent.