For the second time in recent weeks President Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE has acted, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and ISIS terrorists, to help far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen become the next president of France in the election that begins with the critical first round of voting on Sunday.

After the terror attack in Paris on Thursday, Trump tweeted Friday morning that the terror attack would have a significant influence on the French election. This was widely viewed as Trump offering some form of tacit support for Le Pen, who was politically exploiting the terror attack at the very moment Trump was suggesting it would help her campaign.

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Several weeks ago, Trump publicly insulted the city of Paris by saying that Paris is no longer Paris, in what was obviously a reference to Muslims living in the city. This comment from Trump created a firestorm in France and drew virtually unanimous condemnation across the spectrum of French opinion.

Marine Le Pen, who leads the far-right National Front Party in France and is widely expected to emerge from Sunday's vote as one of the two finalists for the runoff election several weeks later, is aggressively anti-EU, hostile to NATO, against the euro and pro-Vladimir Putin.

Intelligence officials throughout Western democracies have made it known they have evidence that Russia is interfering in the French election in support of Le Pen, in the same way Russia interfered in the American election in support of Trump. This has been a major story throughout French media.

Putin appears to be working covertly for Le Pen because her election would wreak havoc on the EU and NATO. It is no coincidence that Le Pen has been heavily dependent on Russian money through banks close to Putin.

Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

Putin's intelligence services, according to multiple sources, have been spreading fake news stories attacking Emmanuel Macron, the former Socialist cabinet member and independent candidate who analysts believe is the most likely candidate to face Le Pen in the runoff.

This week's terror attack in Paris, which ISIS has claimed credit for, was obviously timed so close to the French election on Sunday to help Le Pen foment anti-Muslim backlash and gain ground for the Sunday vote.

Trump is making an enormous mistake by making it appear he favors Le Pen. Does Trump really want to be aligned with a Russian dictator and a mass-murdering terrorist group in support of a far-right extremist candidate to be president of France?

If the finalists in France are Macron and Le Pen, attention will shift back to Trump with a white-hot intensity if he does or says one more thing seeming to favor Le Pen. One of the few things to unite true progressives and principled conservatives, advocates of peace and military leaders, civil rights advocates and civil libertarians is vehement opposition to the National Front Party, Marine Le Pen and everything they represent.

If Le Pen is ultimately elected and becomes the next president of France, the story will be the possible end of the EU and crisis for NATO. If Macron is the other finalist and ultimately defeats Le Pen, the story will be the rollback and reversal of the extreme right, the far right and the alt right, including the unpopularity of Trump, the defeat of the far right in the recent election in the Netherlands and the defeat of Le Pen if she loses.

The stakes in the coming French election are enormous for France, Europe and the future of Western democracy. Trump should immediately stop all comments that could be interpreted as supporting Le Pen or far-right extremism in France and anywhere else.

No president of the United States should ever be, or appear to be, aligned with terrorists and a Russian dictator against equality or democracy in France or any nation.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then-chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.