Trump takes a dig at Macron, saying France President’s wife treats him ‘badly’
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Mrs Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, at a roundtable event hosted by US First Lady Melania Trump at the the White House on March 25.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump made fun of the French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron during a private lunch on April 1, as he lambasted NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran that has roiled the Middle East.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Mr Trump told a private lunch in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked.
“I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Mr Trump said.
He 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 Mr Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign.
“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,’“ Mr Trump continued.
He then mimics a French accent to give Mr Macron’s alleged answer: “ ‘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’,” Mr Trump said.
“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,” Mr Trump said, without elaborating.
He also branded NATO a “paper tiger,” the latest salvo by the US leader and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year.
On March 31, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “is going to have to re-examine” its relationship with NATO once the war against Iran has concluded. AFP
