US President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind another embattled far-right European leader, backing Marine Le Pen after French presidential hopeful was convicted of embezzlement and barred from political office.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denounced the court ruling that placed a five-year ban on her seeking public office for embezzlement.

F or the better part of a decade Marine Le Pen has worked methodically to transform an extremist, xenophobic fringe movement into a more respectable nationalist party ready to govern. The French hard-right leader had a reasonable chance of winning the highest office in 2027,