Le Pen says she will not run for French president if she has to wear an electronic bracelet

Marine Le Pen at the Assemblée Nationale, Paris on February 25, 2026. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP

France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday, February 25, she won't run for president next year if a Paris appeals court orders her to wear an electronic bracelet over alleged misuse of European Union funds. Le Pen said she hopes the appeals court clears her in key verdict set for July 7 – a ruling that may derail her presidential ambitions. "I know very well that the decision regarding this candidacy isn't mine to make," she said on the news broadcaster BFM TV.

Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and other members of her Rassemblement National party guilty of misusing EU Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016 who allegedly worked for the party instead of doing parliamentary tasks. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a ban from elected office or she will have to wear an electronic tag – or both, among other options.

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