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The American inner circle of France's far-right Marine Le Pen

When far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen Marine made it through to the run-off of the French presidential election on Sunday, some powerful people in the United States were celebrating.

From Trump Tower to the US Congress, Le Pen has established her own circle of trust in the United States. And though Le Pen and Donald Trump have yet to meet in person, the National Front (FN)candidate and the US president have more than a few things in common.

But they came very close to crossing paths in January.

“Welcome, welcome to Trump Tower,” said Italian-born George – or Guido – Lombardi as he opened the door to his one-bedroom flat on the 63rd floor. The view of Central Park was stunning, and until three months ago Trump shared the same vista, although three floors further up. First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron still live in Trump Tower.

Lombardi hosted a fundraiser for Le Pen in this very apartment when Trump was still president-elect. She met businessmen, real estate brokers and potential donors. Among them were Americans, Israelis, Indians and Russians, according to Lombardi. Trump did not attend but the end result was satisfying to Le Pen: Lombardi suggested that she received numerous donations for her campaign.

“I made the introduction. I wasn’t witness to any check signing or anything like that. They had some meetings after, privately, which I wasn’t involved in. It may have happened afterwards,” said Lombardi, with a wry smile.

We spoke a week before the April 23 first round of the French presidential election. Donations to campaigns are anonymous in France, so there is no public record of which US persons might have helped Le Pen financially.

The only reason Le Pen and Trump did not meet? The media glare, according to Lombardi: “It was OK to be able to talk to some of Mr Trump’s staff but not necessarily for it to be in the media, because it would have been kind of not positive for either one of them,” Lombardi explained.

Aiding Europe's populists

When Trump moved to the White House, Lombardi may have lost a neighbour – but he has gained enormously in influence. He now spends weekends at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and was recently featured in a New York Times profile as the “point man for Europe’s populists”.

Lombardi proudly showed off his copy of the newspaper, as he does evidence of his friendships. Framed pictures of Trump, former US presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and of a meeting with the Dalai Lama dotted the apartment, as did carefully placed books about the US president.

For the French run-off vote on May 7th, Lombardi will be in Paris. He said he wants to stay for Le Pen's inauguration.

Lombardi is indeed the US point man for Europe’s far-right politicians. His contacts include Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders and German far-right politician Frauke Petry.

To prove a point, Lombardi texted Le Pen in a WhatsApp group that includes her domestic partner Louis Aliot, who is also the National Front's vice-president. The reply came in: “Meeting Marseille.” She was busy campaigning. Lombardi proudly showed off his response: “Love” and a heart emoticon.

Lombardi builds bridges for Europe’s far-right leaders, mostly linking them with other right-wing politicians in the United States.

Trump threatens to quit NATO: White House official

US President Donald Trump would consider leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if member states do not follow through with pledges to increase their annual contributions to the Alliance, a senior White House official said.

The White House official said, on condition of anonymity, that Trump wants to see faster and more concrete developments at NATO.

This explicit threat to leave the 68-year-old Alliance comes ahead of Trump’s international tour, which includes the NATO summit in Brussels next week (May 25th).

“We’ll either see real changes towards NATO or we’ll try to form a different way of going about things”, the senior White House source said.

"We don't want to be paying for everyone's defence"

Trump begins a five-nation tour this week, starting in Saudi Arabia and finishing at the G7 Summit in Italy.

"The one thing that he doesn't have patience for is this kind of lip service,” the official said.

The lip service he is referring to is NATO member countries unfulfilled pledges to increase their defence spending, a key demand from the Trump administration ahead of the Alliance’s summit in Brussels.

After openly questioning the role of NATO in a post-Cold War era during the 2017 US presidential election campaign, Trump reversed his position last month when he conceded that the Atlantic alliance was no longer “obsolete” because “it is fighting terrorism”.

"So you'll see what he says when he's there (at the summit in Italy), but it's a very serious issue for him and it's a very serious issue for the American people because we don't want to be paying for everyone's defence and it's just not fair to the American taxpayers and it's not something that the president wants to see happen," the official underscored.

China and Russia in G7?

Trump will end this critical first foreign trip in Sicily. The G7 summit, the economic alliance of seven countries, namely France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and Japan, could end up being dominated by the issue of the defence Alliance.
Most importantly, according to the White House official speaking on condition of anonymity, Trump appears to be considering whether China and Russia – who was a member but was suspended in the wake of the annexation of Crimea - would be welcome additions to the G7 alliance.

“Whether it’s fully productive to have the G7 without Russia and China there may be something that we would look at”, added the senior White House official.