The future of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen – and France’s political landscape – will be decided on Monday when a court hands down its verdict on charges she and party officials embezzled money from the European parliament.

If convicted, the three-time presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN) could be barred from standing to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 presidential election.

Public prosecutors have demanded Le Pen be given a €300,000 (£250,000) fine, a prison sentence and that she be prevented from holding or seeking to hold a political position or five years. On Friday, in a case that did not involve Le Pen, France’s constitutional council delivered a blow to the RN figurehead when it ruled that politicians can be barred from office immediately if convicted of a crime.

…Le Pen and 24 others from RN, including party officials, employees, MEPs and assistants, were tried last November on charges of taking money from the European parliament as part of an alleged fake jobs scam. Instead of the money being spent on EU staff, they were accused of having used it to pay party staff in France. The European parliament estimated the allegedly embezzled funds amounted to about €7m. Le Pen and the others have denied the charges.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/30/marine-le-pen-alleged-embezzlement-verdict?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Hillary Clinton on Friday called the Trump administration’s approach to governing both dumb and dangerous in an essay excoriating the Signal chat scandal and the Elon Musk-led mission to slash the federal workforce, and concluding that Trump would make the US “feeble and friendless”.

…“In a dangerous and complex world, it’s not enough to be strong. You must also be smart. As secretary of state during the Obama administration, I argued for smart power, integrating the hard power of our military with the soft power of our diplomacy, development assistance, economic might and cultural influence,” she wrote.

“None of those tools can do the job alone. Together, they make America a superpower. The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr Trump’s America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless.”

…Clinton concluded that the administration appeared not to know its way, was putting the US in danger and mused that perhaps Trump “is in way over his head…If there’s a grand strategy at work here, I don’t know what it is … He’s gambling with the national security of the United States. If this continues, a group chat foul will be the least of our concerns, and all the fist and flag emojis in the world won’t save us,” she said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/28/hillary-clinton-trump-stupidity?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

After speaking to auto industry experts from the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Wedbush Securities concluded President Trump’s 25% tariff on all cars and parts made outside the U.S. “would send the auto industry into pure chaos.” The move will raise the average price of cars between $5,000 on the low end and $10,000-$15,000 on the high end, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Wedbush believes every auto maker in the world will have to raise prices selling into the U.S. while the supply chain logistics of the tariff announcement is “hard to even put our arms around at this moment.” A U.S. car with all U.S. parts made in the U.S. “is a fictional tale not even possible today,” according to the firm. Wedbush thinks it would take three years to move 10% of the auto supply chain to the U.S. and cost hundreds of billions “with much complexity and disruption.” It adds, “The concept of this auto tariff in our view would be a back breaker and Armageddon for the auto industry globally and throws the supply chain into pure panic mode.”

Wedbush believes the winner from these tariffs “is no one.” Even Tesla (TSLA) will; be hit and will be forced to raise prices, the analyst predicts. The news will continue to put “major pressure” on General Motors (GM) and other auto makers and suppliers until more clarity is learned from the White House, Wedbush says.

https://www.tipranks.com/news/the-fly/wedbush-sees-pure-chaos-in-auto-industry-from-tariffs

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) on Thursday defended asking at a congressional hearing whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was drinking before sharing military attack plans in a Signal group chat of top-level national security officials, which mistakenly also included a prominent journalist.

In an interview with CNN anchor John Berman, Gomez said he asked about the secretary’s drinking habits because Hegseth sending the plans “doesn’t make sense” and he wanted to understand better why Hegseth did it. Gomez said he did not have any independent knowledge that would suggest Hegseth was drinking that day. “It was a question that I wanted to ask because what’s going on — what happened — doesn’t make sense, at any level,” Gomez told Berman.

The message Hegseth sent to the Signal group chat several hours ahead of a U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen included information about timing and weapons. The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently included in that chat, which apparently was created by national security adviser Mike Waltz.

“Here’s the fact,” Gomez said. “The decision for him to put war plans on a Signal chat that’s not secure, hours before the operation, risked lives.”

“So, one, you either don’t know that it’s not a secure app. Two, you don’t know that the Chinese and Russians are on your phone. Three, you don’t care,” Gomez added. “Or four … somehow, your inhibitions were lowered, and your decisionmaking was compromised,” he continued. “I just need to try to find out what’s the fact because our men and women deserve better.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5217779-jimmy-gomez-pete-hegseth-drinking-question/