President Donald Trump tweeted congratulations to Emmanuel Macron, leader of the center-left En Marche! Party, on Sunday afternoon. Macron’s victory deals a blow to the populist movement across Europe and to his opponent, National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
“Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him!” Trump tweeted.
The White House also issued a statement on the results, saying: “We congratulate President-elect Macron and the people of France on their successful presidential election,” Spicer said. “We look forward to working with the new President and continuing our close cooperation with the French government.”
Trump has often been compared to Le Pen, because both have taken hard-line stances on immigration and had criticized the NATO alliance.
{mosads}Last month, Trump said he thought a deadly attack on a police bus in Paris would help Le Pen.
But in a subsequent interview, he refused to comment on whether he thought Le Pen should be president.
“No, I have no comment on that,” Trump told The Associated Press.
“I believe whoever is the toughest on radical Islamic terrorism and whoever is the toughest at the borders will do well at the election.
“I am not saying that person is going to win, she is not even favored to win, you know. Right now, she is in second place,” he said at the time.