Donald Trump weighs in on French election result with ominous comment

'I know that some outside distractions have taken place which have changed that race,' says the US leader

Head of the French far-right party Front national (FN) and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen (Getty)

Donald Trump has warned that “outside distractions” have taken place that have "changed" the French presidential race.

“I don’t know what is going to happen," he told the Financial Times. "I know that some outside distractions have taken place which have changed that race."

The US President added that he thought the election would be "interesting."

He added that he did not know the far right leader of the Front National party, Marine le Pen, "but you know some outside things have happened that maybe will change the course of that race.”

Mr Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by "outside distractions".

But French intelligence have previously warned about the risk of a Russian cyber attack in support of Ms Le Pen, who met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month.

In January, US intelligence agencies said Kremlin-backed hackers had broken into the email accounts of senior Democrats and released embarrassing ones in order to help Mr Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

And last month FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee, the the Bureau was investigating Russian interference with the US elections, including any links with members of the Trump campaign, and whether the latter constituted any crimes.

Germany's spy chief has also warned that Russian hackers are pelting his country with disinformation that could disrupt the country’s general election in September.

In the Netherlands, ballots in last month's election were hand counted in order to prevent potential interference from hackers.

French voters will go the ballot box on 23 April for the first round of voting and the second round will take place on 7 May.