What is Marine Le Pen doing at Trump Tower?

Marine Le Pen popping up at Trump Tower has provoked a predictable storm of fury. Of course we don’t know if the Front National leader is actually there to meet Donald Trump or not. It does, though, seem like a long way to travel to do without a ride in Trump’s gilded elevator and a snapped selfie with the president-elect. Perhaps then the draw of the Trump Tower cafe proved too alluring to resist during Le Pen’s unscheduled visit to New York. But while details about exactly what she is up to in Trump Tower are thin on the ground, the fact she is there at all is certainly interesting. As with Nigel Farage making an appearance at Trump’s New York sanctum so soon after the president-elect’s victory, Le Pen’s trip seems to show yet again Trump’s willingness to tear up the already battered diplomatic rule book. It’s worth remembering that the UK has a ‘no contact’ rule with the Front National. Britain’s new ambassador in France Lord Llewellyn confirmed as much during his appearance in front of a select committee this week, when he told MPs ‘we have a policy of not engaging’ with the FN. The same clearly won’t be true for the Trump administration.

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Le Pen’s appearance at Trump Tower also seems to send out a message about Trump’s view of the European project. His team have chosen to welcome the politician whose presence is most likely to anger — and worry—the European political establishment. What’s more, given that journalists are now stationed at Trump Tower around the clock, it’s obvious that someone – whether from the Trump, or Le Pen camp – wanted the Front National leader to be spotted. So Trump has cheered on Brexit, thrown his weight behind Farage and is now hosting a party leader who has hailed the death of the European Union. It’s almost a moot point by now but it’s worth spelling out again: America’s relationship with the EU under Trump will look very different from what came before. There’s also a possibility that Marine Le Pen’s visit is linked to Donald Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Bannon’s Breitbart news site has announced plans to expand into France. With Le Pen now just weeks away from launching her official campaign at the start of February, the Front National leader is gearing up her pitch to the French electorate. If Le Pen is to succeed in the French election – and it will be a close-run thing – she will need all the help she can get from sympathetic media outlets like Breitbart. For what it’s worth, Bloomberg are saying Trump doesn’t have any plans to see Le Pen. While Marine Le Pen’s chief of staff David Rachline is saying an encounter is not on Le Pen’s ‘public agenda’. Whether the pair do meet will inevitably become clear. But Le Pen showing up at Trump Tower certainly looks a fitting signifier of the new world order we’re now in.