Macron challenges Trump
French leader says US needs to engage more with world
Aday after flaunting his friendship with Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron forcefully challenged many of the US President’s policies yesterday, urging the United States to engage more with the world, step up the fight against climate change and stay in the Iran nuclear pact for now.
Capping a three-day visit, Macron repeatedly criticised the President’s isolationist principles in a speech to a joint meeting of Congress, an honour given to a small number of visiting foreign leaders.
Macron said US involvement in the global community was vital and Trump’s opposition to the Paris climate accord and international trade agreements was short-sighted.
The French President even took a dig at Trump’s famous 2016 campaign slogan, calling for the US to help “make our planet great again”.
Macron has developed a strong relationship with Trump at a time when many European leaders are keeping a distance. During the visit, they repeatedly shook and grabbed hands, exchanged kisses on the cheek, and slapped each other’s backs while praising their friendship.
But before Congress, Macron suggested he wanted more than just good optics.
Without mentioning Trump by name, he challenged the Republican President’s protectionist and nationalist impulses and said modern economic and security challenges must be a shared global responsibility that is “based on a new breed of multilateralism”.
“The United States is the one who invented this multilateralism. You are the one now who has to help preserve and reinvent it,” Macron said.
He said the international nuclear deal with Iran was not perfect but must remain in place until a replacement is forged. — Reuters