WASHINGTON—A group of senior State Department officials will head to France and Ireland this week to push both countries to respect citizens’ rights, The Daily Wire has learned.
The trip is part of a State Department effort to fight “egregious examples of democratic backsliding” and “violations of basic natural rights” in Europe, a senior State Department official shared with The Daily Wire. The initiative, launched by the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is especially focused on defending freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.
The countries in question “claim to be bastions of democracy,” the senior State Department official explained, “they’re so-called liberal democracies that preach inclusivity and tolerance and progress, and the reality on the ground just simply shows that isn’t the case.”
In France, the State Department delegation will meet with government officials to discuss the recent arrest of French politician Marine Le Pen. In Ireland, their discussion will focus on concerns that a new European Union law could be used to censor free speech.
Under President Donald Trump, the State Department is working to push American allies to respect the rights of their citizens and the rights of American citizens. Foggy Bottom sees trips like this as opportunities to battle the global political apparatus that has been weaponized against both European and American people, an apparatus that wants to silence individuals who stand up for traditional values like faith, freedom, and family.
As Vice President JD Vance highlighted at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration sees real threats facing its allies in Europe “from within” — particularly cases of governments targeting their own citizens and particular forms of political and religious speech. Those targeted are disproportionately Christian, conservative, or nationalist.
“It’s not a coincidence that these kinds of global forces are using similar tactics to those that were used on this side of the Atlantic against President Trump and his supporters over the past eight years,” the State Department official shared.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly emphasized that everything the State Department is doing must be done in the “national interest.” Increasingly, the State Department is noticing that the measures taken by the European Union are not only affecting European citizens, but also affecting American individuals and companies.
“In the spirit of our common culture or common Western heritage, that champions natural rights and free speech, we think we can speak frankly with our European allies about these real concerns,” that official noted. “If we’re not on the same page civilizationally, if we’re not on the same page politically, if we’re not on the same page values-wise, it makes those very important relationships much harder to guarantee.”
In March 2025, French authorities charged Marine Le Pen — a conservative and presumptive presidential candidate for the “National Rally” — with embezzlement. A court quickly found her guilty, placed her on house arrest, and banned her from seeking elected office for five years.
The State Department is taking her stature as a political leader and the disproportionate speed at which the French government proceeded with the ban into consideration. They find her case “unique and concerning,” The Daily Wire has learned.
In Ireland, the officials will focus on the Digital Services Act, European Union legislation that will impact American companies based in Ireland, particularly technology companies. The legislation ostensibly aims to protect children by moderating online content and harmful practices like child pornography.
But in practice, a State Department official told the Daily Wire, it has been used to target political speech deemed to be hateful or offensive by European governments. American social media companies face heavy fines if they do not conform to the censorship rules.
“It’s obviously being weaponized, for political purposes,” the State Department official said.
State Department officials traveled to the United Kingdom earlier this year, where they met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, a woman prosecuted for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic that read: “Here to talk if you want.”
The State Department issued a statement at the time announcing that it was monitoring Tossici-Bolt’s case and that it was important to the United States that the United Kingdom “respect and protect freedom of expression.” Tossici-Bolt was convicted in April and ordered to pay a fine of £20,000, The Guardian reports.
The State Department trip comes amid an ongoing trade war between the United States and European nations. Pressed by The Daily Wire earlier this month as to whether a newly-signed trade deal with the United Kingdom included any assurances from Britain to protect free speech and freedom of religion, Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the agreement was solely focused on the economy.
