Trump takes repeated aim at France’s Macron
Twitter barrage escalates tension after trip to Paris
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unleashed verbal attacks Tuesday on French President Emmanuel Macron, taking aim at his approval rating, his country’s employment rate, its trade policies on wine and his vision for the military.
The broadside on Twitter escalated a spat that began Friday when Trump took umbrage at Macron’s call in a radio interview for a “true European army” so that the continent can defend itself without relying on the United States.
Tensions between the two leaders continued over the weekend at events in Paris commemorating the end of World War I, with Macron delivering a speech that many saw as a rebuke of Trump’s self-imposed “nationalist” label.
In the first of several barbs Tuesday on Twitter, Trump again misrepresented what Macron had said during last week’s radio interview and reminded him of the U.S. military’s role in aiding France in World War I and II.
“Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia,” Trump wrote. “But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two — How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along.”
In the interview with French radio station Europe 1, Macron called for a “true European army” in part so that the continent would not have to rely on the United States for defense. He noted President Trump met with Emmanuel Macron during his visit to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 armistice. that Russia “is at our borders” and said he would like to “start a security dialogue” with the nation.
In another part of the interview, Macron said that Europe has to protect itself “with respect to China, Russia and even the United States.” But in that portion of the radio interview, Macron was actually referring to cybersecurity matters and fading multilateralism, rather than the military.
Trump also inaccurately summarized Macron’s comments when he initially tweeted about them Friday while on Air Force One arriving in Paris. Trump said he found Macron’s comments “very insulting” and said that France should “first pay its fair share of NATO.”
In his tweet Tuesday, Trump again referenced France’s spending, writing: “Pay for NATO or not!”
Trump has long been irritated at countries in the NATO alliance that do not spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their militaries, claiming that the United States has had to subsidize the defense spending of other nations.
In a speech at the World War I commemoration, Macron delivered a forceful rebuke against rising nationalism, calling it a “betrayal of patriotism” and warning against “old demons coming back to wreak chaos and death.”
While his words were intended for a global audience, they also were widely seen, in part, as a rebuke of Trump, who recently described himself as a “nationalist.”
Trump referenced Macron’s remarks during Tuesday’s tweetstorm.
“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. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people — and rightfully so!”
“MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!” Trump added, in a play on his campaign slogan.
The poll Trump referenced was from last month. Another recent poll put Macron’s approval rating a little higher. France’s unemployment rate is about 9 percent.
Trump’s tweets came on the anniversary of coordinated terrorist attacks on Nov. 13, 2015, in France — a solemn occasion in the country. The French government declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.