US excludes French applicants from MAGA grant after Paris warning

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PARIS — The U.S. State Department will exclude French applicants from a grant program meant to support MAGA-aligned groups after Paris warned against potential interference in next year’s French presidential election.

The program aims to advance the U.S. administration’s political agenda in Europe and fight what it describes as democratic backsliding, including “overbroad and vague hate-speech laws.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Paris confirmed French groups wouldn’t receive funding, as first reported by Reuters.

The grant program was formally advertised in the summer after U.S. State Department officials held talks with MAGA-aligned think tanks and advocacy groups about funding opportunities earlier this year. That led French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to warn against what he described as potential “foreign interference in [European] electoral processes.”

The country is beefing up its arsenal to fight online disinformation and foreign interference ahead of the 2027 presidential campaign, with a law set to be considered by the Senate in October.

A spokesperson for the State Department said the program “does not and will not fund political parties, in Europe or elsewhere” and added that the allocation of grants “was still in active deliberation.”

The U.S. administration, most prominently Vice President JD Vance, has repeatedly framed the EU’s hate speech laws and election safety measures as attempts to curtail free speech and civil rights.

Its high-profile support for Hungary’s autocratic former leader Viktor Orbán and its pledge to support like-minded “patriotic European parties” in its National Security Strategy have raised fears of election interference ahead of several key elections in Europe.

The spokesperson for the State Department said the strategy objectives included “collaborating with European partners to jointly support European revitalization and civilizational self-confidence.”

Nicolas Conquer, the founder of the MAGA-aligned French think tank Western Arc, has applied for the funding. He said he had yet to receive a formal response to his application.