Seoul (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that Donald Trump’s mocking comments about his marriage did not merit a response, calling them “neither elegant nor up to standard.” But after days of tensions over US-Israeli strikes on Iran and NATO, an apparently irritated Macron launched a broadside of his own, saying “there is too much talk” and “this is not a show.”
On Wednesday, Trump made fun of the French president and his wife at a private lunch as he lambasted NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran. The US president imitated a French accent and said that Macron’s wife “treats him extremely badly” and that Macron was still “recovering from the right to the jaw.”
On a visit to Seoul, Macron, who was accompanied by his wife Brigitte, said Trump’s comments were “neither elegant nor up to standard.” “So I am not going to respond to them — they do not merit a response,” Macron told reporters. The focus instead should be on “work towards de-escalation” in the Middle East and a ceasefire, Macron added. “There is too much talk, and it’s all over the place,” the French president said, apparently referring to numerous policy U-turns by Trump. “We all need stability, calm, a return to peace — this isn’t a show!” Macron emphasized.
Trump’s latest broadside against Macron angered French politicians. “Honestly, it’s not up to par,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament. “We are currently discussing the future of the world. Right now in Iran, this is having consequences for the lives of millions of people; people are dying on the battlefield, and we have a president who is laughing, who is mocking others,” she told Franceinfo.
Even Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party who is often critical of the president, rushed to Macron’s defense. “You are aware of the extent of my disagreements with the president, but for Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner — I find that absolutely unacceptable,” Bompard told broadcaster BFMTV. Conservative French daily Le Figaro said: “Another controversial outburst from Donald Trump.”
Trump mocked Macron and the French in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked. “We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Trump said. “I call up France, Macron — whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump stated.
The US president was referring to a May 2025 news video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving the French president’s face on a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign. At the time, Macron denied any “domestic dispute” with his wife, saying they were “joking as we often do.”
“And I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately,'” Trump continued. He then mimicked a French accent to give Macron’s alleged response: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,'” he said.
“I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel,'” Trump added. “So I learned about NATO — NATO won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump remarked, without elaborating. He also branded NATO a “paper tiger,” marking the latest salvo by Trump and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its relationship with NATO once the war against Iran has concluded.
© 2024 AFP
