Washington 22 Apr (ANA) - Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Marine Le Pen, claiming the Front National leader is the “strongest candidate” in the French election race. The US president’s comments come just 24 hours before an anxious nation goes to the polls to finally decide on who is to be the Republic's president. Mrs Le Pen has not yet met Mr Trump and while he stopped short of giving her a full endorsement he said he thought she was the "strongest" candidate. Mr Trump said in an interview with the Associated Press that Mrs Le Pen is “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France”. However White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Mr Trump didn’t have a preference in the election. The comments come just a day after En Marche! candidate Emmanuel Macron filmed himself talking on a speaker phone with former US president Barack Obama and broadcast it on Facebook. Around 50,000 police officers and anti-terror military officers are on the streets of France after the country was hit by dozens of terror attacks in just two years. Now amid growing scepticism in the European Union over the breakdown of the relationship between France and Germany, it appears Mr Trump backs the Front National candidate's hardline policies. Mrs Le Pen, a former immigration lawyer, had her office targeted by arsonists and previously survived a bomb attack.(ANA)

FA/ANA/22 April 2017----