WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump in a Thursday post via Truth Social called on France to release conservative hardliner Marine Le Pen.

A judge in March banned Le Pen from running for public office after finding her guilty of embezzling EU funds. She had enjoyed growing success with French voters, coming in second behind President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 elections.

There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent,” she argued in court. “So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election.

Trump agreed with the stance and called on French courts to undo the ban.

“The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent, this time going so far as to put that Opponent in prison,” he wrote. “It is the same ‘playbook’ that was used against me by a group of Lunatics and Losers, like Norm Eisen, Andrew Weissmann, and Lisa Monaco.”

“They spent the last nine years thinking of nothing else, and they FAILED, because the People of the United States realized that they were only Corrupt Lawyers and Politicians,” he added. “I don’t know Marine Le Pen, but do appreciate how hard she worked for so many years.”

Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk shared the post via X, adding “Free Le Pen!”

The post comes during a complicated time for the United States’ relationship with France. French politician Raphaël Glucksmann last month called on the U.S. to return the Statue of Liberty over its support of “tyrants.”

“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,'” Glucksmann said, according to French newspaper Le Monde. “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So, it will be just fine here at home.”

Follow Jackson Walker on X at @_jlwalker_ for the latest trending national news. Have a news tip? Send it to jacwalker@sbgtv.com.