The statement was terse and to the point, issued by the office of the White House press secretary:
We congratulate President-elect Macron and the people of France on their successful presidential election. We look forward to working with the new President and continuing our close cooperation with the French government.
President Trump issued a comment about Sunday’s runoff election in France via his Twitter feed, too, which was slightly more energetic:
Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2017
Trump’s statements after the election are notable for a pair of reasons. The first is that he all but endorsed Marine Le Pen, the losing candidate in the race, in the days ahead of the election. The second is that Trump’s public statements about foreign leaders have drawn notice for their breaks with precedent.
Le Pen and Trump have been commonly lumped together as avatars of the nationalist, nativist, isolationist political movement popping up around the globe. Both have also been particularly inflammatory in discussing Islam and dismissive of the EU. But there was more to the comparison than these policy affinities. During the summer of 2016, Le Pen said she would vote for Trump if she were an American voter. Prior to Trump’s inauguration, Le Pen was spotted hanging around Trump Tower, though it was not clear quite why. Russia also worked to encourage the election of both Trump and Le Pen.