Why Le Pen is Threatening to Topple the French Government
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This video is brought to you by Brilliant. Today, French politician Marine Le Pen threatens to topple the government. Incoming US President Donald Trump announces 25% tariffs on foreign imports. And supporters of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clash with police. From TLDR News, this is your daily briefing for Tuesday 26th November 2024.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally, could be about to trigger a Greece-style Eurozone crisis as she decides whether to bring down France's government. On Monday, Le Pen issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who is currently seeking support for his 2025 budget, threatening to dismantle the coalition government if he refuses to agree to her demands for the budget.

Barnier leads a centrist conservative minority government formed after President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap election this summer. His administration has been focused on correcting the country's financial trajectory, which has been marred by years of excessive spending. Barnier is aiming to save 60 billion euros through a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts in his upcoming budget. However, Barnier has been grappling with approval for the budget amidst a backdrop of rising public discontent.

Gaining parliamentary approval has also proved challenging. This week, the Senate started debating the bill on Monday, following its rejection by lawmakers in the National Assembly, after leftist lawmakers heavily revised it in the lower house.

In a bid to rally support for the budget, Barnier has been meeting with party leaders amid reports that he may consider invoking a constitutional clause known as Article 49.3, which would allow him to push the budget through without a parliamentary vote. Le Pen firmly opposes tax hikes on households, pensioners and entrepreneurs in Barnier's budget.

Following her meeting with the Prime Minister, she reiterated the National Rally's red lines, which include dropping budget plans to increase taxes on electricity and the delaying of increases to certain pensions to cover inflation. Despite acknowledging Barnier's courteous stance, she noted he seemed fixed on his position and warned that if the budget remains unchanged, her party would vote for a no-confidence motion.

Until now, Le Pen has refrained from overtly threatening the coalition's stability, but had consistently signalled her intent to oppose any budget that did not meet her approval. Moreover, with her political future hanging in the balance due to a potential five-year ban stemming from alleged involvement in an embezzlement scheme, she may feel more emboldened to accelerate any plans she may have to bring down the government.

Should Le Pen follow through on her threat, a collapse of the French government could trigger significant upheaval in European markets. Signs of this impending risk are already evident, as the premium that investors demand for French bonds over German securities approaches high levels not seen in over a decade.

There's more on the way, but remember to subscribe and ring the bell for more Daily Briefing tomorrow. Plus, if you want to support the channel like Lucas Holtz, then consider joining the TLDR Daily Membership Programme for just $1.99. Incoming US President Donald Trump has announced that he'll introduce tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico, plus an additional 10% on Chinese imports.

Announcing the policy on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said the tariffs would be introduced on his first day in office and will remain in place until, in his words, drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country.

During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to affect tariffs against several countries, but particularly Mexico and China, and at one point said that he'd introduced tariffs of up to 1,000% on Chinese electric vehicles manufactured in Mexico.

According to Erica York of the Washington-based tax foundation Think Tank, quoted in the Financial Times, the tariffs on the US's three largest trading partners would significantly increase costs and disrupt business across all economies involved. For its part, China has criticised the decision, with state broadcaster CCTV calling Trump's comments irresponsible and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng saying economic globalisation is an irreversible historical trend.

Additionally, the leader of Mexico's ruling party in the lower house of Congress, Ricardo Monreal, said tariffs would not solve the underlying issue at the border and that escalating trade retaliation would only hurt people's pockets. Another story from the US now where President-elect Trump has just had two major cases against him dismissed. The two cases relate to classified documents that he retained after his presidency and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The move, made by special counsel Jack Smith, is as a result of the reality that the cases would not be completed before Trump becomes president early next year.

The Justice Department has a policy that prohibits criminal action being taken against a sitting president. In the six-page motion to dismiss the election interference case, Smith's top deputy Molly Gaston argues it has long been the position of the Department of Justice that the United States Constitution forbids the federal indictment and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president.

For their part, Trump's team seems to have reacted positively to the news, with Stephen Chung, Trump's communications director, stating that today's decision by the DOJ ends the unconstitutional federal cases against President Trump and is a major victory for the rule of law. The American people and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponisation of our justice system.

And moving to Pakistan now, where supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan have been tear-gassed by police. This follows thousands of opposition supporters converging on Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, to demand his release from prison, after Khan issued what was reported as a final call to protest.

Demonstrators have clashed violently with security forces, who reportedly used tear gas and rubber bullets on the marchers to try and disperse them. For context, one week before Pakistan's February 8th election, Khan was convicted of leaking state secrets and sentenced to 10 years in prison, on top of the three he was already serving on corruption charges. Khan claimed this was politically motivated,

urged voters to take revenge in the 2024 election, and has since continued to motivate his supporters from behind bars. Khan has used the charges against him to portray himself as a kind of martyr and a victim of Pakistan's military political establishment. The powerful Pakistani army has an outsized influence on the country's politics, having ousted Khan from power in April 2022.

A couple of weeks ago, Khan called for his supporters to take to the streets of Islamabad, citing a choice between martial law and freedom. It seems to be this rallying cry that Khan's supporters are now responding to. Whether their protest will change anything, though, is not yet known. Finally, Hong Kong's top court has upheld earlier rulings that grant subsidised housing benefits and equal inheritance rights to same-sex married couples, marking a significant victory to the city's LGBTQ plus community.

The unanimous decision from the Court of Final Appeal dismissed the government's appeals, ending long-standing legal battles over discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples married abroad. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung stated that exclusionary housing policies are unjustifiable, while judges ruled inheritance laws discriminatory. Advocates like Nick Infinger, who first launched a judicial review against Hong Kong's housing authority in 2018, celebrated the decision as a step for all same-sex couples.

This ruling reinforces growing social acceptance and recognition of same-sex partnerships in the region.

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