Steve Bannon Backs Marine Le Pen as Macron Pitches Ukraine Force

Steve Bannon urged French courts to allow Marine Le Pen to run for president, arguing her election would help “break” the EU, as France’s political deadlock deepened after Macron’s 2024 snap polls.The France 2 interview aired Thursday followed Le Pen’s graft conviction last year and a five-year ban from office, with her appeal trial starting next week and a verdict expected in the summer.Amid the controversy, Emmanuel Macron briefed party leaders on deploying 5,000 to 6,000 French troops to Ukraine after a peace agreement, within a 10,000-strong multinational force whose command is already set up at Mont-Valérien near Paris.