US President Donald Trump compared the conviction of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen to his own court cases in the US, saying that the five-year ban on holding elected office of the leader of the French party “National Assembly“ is “a very serious matter“, reported Agence France-Presse.
“It reminds me of our country, it looks a lot like our country“, said Trump, who himself was convicted last year in a case of hidden payments to a porn actress.
The United States is concerned about the exclusion of candidates from political life in connection with the conviction of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who was given a five-year ban from holding public office, effective immediately, told reporters, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
“The exclusion of figures from political life is particularly troubling, given the aggressive and corrupt legal war that is being waged against President Donald Trump here in the United States“, the spokeswoman said.
Donald Trump signed an executive order today to facilitate the attraction to the United States of corporate investments of over 1 billion dollars, the White House said, quoted by Reuters.
The order creates an office within the Commerce Department, called the U.S. Investment Accelerator, which will encourage foreign companies to make large investments in the U.S. economy by reducing bureaucratic burdens, speeding up the issuance of permits, coordinating between federal agencies and individual states and expanding access to resources, the White House said in a statement.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has warned local suppliers to U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, as well as recipients of U.S. grants, that they must comply with the ban on programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion imposed by the American leader, under threat of losing their payments, Reuters reported.
„The U.S. Embassy in Spain, like all our embassies around the world, is notifying our local suppliers of products and services about the new framework based on President Trump's recent executive orders," a spokesman for the U.S. embassies in Spain said.
“We want to ensure that our partners comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws and that suppliers do not participate in programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in violation of existing federal laws,“ the spokesman added.
The written warnings reflect Trump's ambitions to extend beyond the United States the effect of executive orders he signed in January ordering government agency heads to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion policies from federal agencies, federal contractors, and the private sector.
This has sparked legal cases in the United States after years of U.S. companies supporting similar policies that use race and ethnicity data to promote diversity in hiring and other corporate practices.
According to a letter sent to companies outside the United States, failure to comply with the new requirements will result in a freeze on payments to suppliers.
A similar case arose with German car giant BMW, which received a letter from the US embassy in Bulgaria, to which it sells cars. The letter asked the company to review its policies to promote diversity, equality and inclusion, an official said.
In a statement to Reuters, BMW said that “different perspectives and talents make our company stronger and contribute to strengthening our innovative strength and competitiveness“.