USA TODAY International Edition
Back in D.C., Trump attacks French President Macron
US president’s tweets mock trade, defense
WASHINGTON – After spending a weekend at commemorations for the end of World War I, President Donald Trump waited until he returned to the White House to go after France’s Emmanuel Macron on trade, defense, “nationalism” and Macron’s low approval ratings.
“MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN,” Trump taunted during a Tuesday tweet storm directed at Macron.
French officials said Trump’s comments are riddled with errors.
Trump first attacked the French president for proposing a European army, likening it to German militarism before the two world wars. He also mocked France for being overrun by Germany in the Second World War and demanded that it pay more into the NATO military alliance for Europe.
“But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France?” he tweeted. “They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
Macron, who criticized Trump-style nationalism during weekend events in Paris, has said a new force could help Europe share the burden of military defense with the United States.
As for trade, Trump tweeted: “France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!”
French officials said the U.S. does not have a trade deal with France itself, but with the European Union as a whole; such disputes are currently being negotiated between the U.S. and EU.
As part of his tweet storm, Trump also said “the problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject.” Trump’s approval rating is in the 40s. Trump returned to the United States on Sunday night after a weekend in Paris, where he had nothing but nice things to say about Macron publicly amid disputes about the U.S. president’s “America First” foreign policy.
During a Sunday commemoration of the end of World War I, Macron appeared to be referencing Trump, when he attacked nationalism and said that countries should work together.
“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, ‘Our interest first, who cares about the others?’ ” Macron said before a gathering of world leaders.
Trump did not respond while on the ground in France. At a cemetery dedication, he said the ceremony “was very beautiful and so well done.”
Since returning to Washington on Sunday night, however, Trump has tweeted complaints about France and Europe over military burden sharing in NATO and free trade.
In his volley of tweets on Tuesday, Trump also said, “By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people – and rightfully so!”
Trump’s tweeted attacks on Macron and France drew scorn from the foreign policy community.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said it is “offensive and uninformed” to compare a European army to Germany re-armament before the world wars.
As for NATO, Haass said it “is not about a pot of money that allies chip into but rather an alliance based on national effort and coordination that won the Cold War and is still needed to keep a peace serving U.S. national interest.”
“France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs.” President Donald Trump