French Far-Right’s Zemmour to Attend Trump Inauguration, Leaving Le Pen in a Bind

It remains unclear which part of Donald Trump’s inauguration Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo were invited to or who specifically extended the invitation. POLITICO has reached out to Trump’s team for clarification.

At first glance, one might assume that Trump and Marine Le Pen share similar political ideologies, blending traditional protectionism with an anti-immigration, populist approach. However, the two have never established the close rapport that Trump enjoys with other European hard-right figures, such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán or Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.

Interestingly, Zemmour and Knafo, unlike Le Pen, advocate for a liberal economic stance that aligns more closely with that of Elon Musk. Lately, Musk has stirred the waters of European politics by weighing in on domestic affairs in countries like the U.K., Italy, and Germany. Notably, he recently endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of next month’s snap election, despite the party’s ongoing efforts to distance itself from accusations of Nazi sympathies.

So far, Musk has kept noticeably silent regarding France. Last month, he joined Trump in attending the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and reports suggest French President Emmanuel Macron is lobbying both men to participate in an artificial intelligence summit in Paris scheduled for February.

For Zemmour, receiving an invitation to a Trump-related event could serve as a political boost. His star power has faded since his high-profile, yet ultimately unsuccessful, 2022 presidential campaign in France. During that campaign, Zemmour claimed to have received advice from Trump, although he received just 7 percent of the vote in the first round.

Since then, Knafo—Reconquest’s sole representative in the European Parliament—has become an enthusiastic advocate for Trump’s return to the White House. She has worked to strengthen ties with his team and even attended a Trump event in the U.S. in October.