The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States showed the "massive return" of the people, the leader of France's right-wing National Front party, Marine LePen, told CNBC on Monday.
She claimed to be "very happy" about Trump's election, calling Americans' choice "courageous and advantageous".
"I think that the United States will regain its image which had become very damaged, especially by the administration for which Hillary Clinton worked. The United States cannot have the image of warmongers, with all the potential consequences it could have for our respective countries," Le Pen warned.
"So, that the United States has once again regained an image as an organization of peace is beneficial for us all," she surmised.
Le Pen said there are similarities between Trump's platform and that of her own party as the National Front hopes for France's independence and its return to power. Furthermore, both Trump's and her own party's platform commonly share a refusal to stomach mass immigration, to support factors which drive the growth of the so-called Islamic State and to allow free trade and regulations which would "ravage" France and the European Union (EU).
The National Front leader made clear that she sees now as the time for opportunity, saying a series of recent political developments — from the U.K.'s EU referendum, to the rise of the far-right in Austria and Trump's win — demonstrate that power is slipping from the hands of those whom she describes as "the elites."
"I think that the elites have lived too long among themselves. We are in a world where globalization, which is an ideology, has forgotten, and put aside the people, the people's interests, aspirations, and dreams," Le Pen ventured.
"They have acted like carnivores, who used the world to enrich only themselves, and whether it's the election of Donald Trump, or Brexit, the elites have realized that the people have stopped listening to them, that the people want to determine their futures and in a perfectly democratic framework, regain control of their destiny," she continued.
"And that panics them, because they are losing the power that they had given themselves."
Asked whether this dynamic augured well for her own presidential ambitions, Le Pen said within a certain framework it could do.
"So yes, in these conditions, if the French people too wish to regain their independence, wish to regain control of their country, and wish to reinforce the elements of security, the borders, the rule of law, economic patriotism, then I will be elected president," she predicted.
Turning specifically to the EU, Le Pen confirmed that if elected she would call a referendum to give French citizens the choice of withdrawing France from the monetary union (the euro) and even of leaving the 28-country bloc outright.
Le Pen spoke to the pernicious effect of having France's monetary system controlled by the EU, saying that the institution uses the euro like a weapon held to the country's chest, forcing it to move in certain ways. The National Front leader said that nothing is more important than France regaining control of its currency.
Le Pen also claimed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who confirmed on Sunday she would run for a fourth term in 2017, did not fit the mood of the times. She warned her days are numbered given the pace of change currently underway in Europe.