Less than six weeks after a state visit from Emmanuel Macron, which looked like a budding bromance between the French president and President Donald Trump, it seems the relationship has quickly turned sour. While Macron may have believed that a United States’ president would be mature enough to handle criticism of his policies from a European ally, that’s only because he had not yet dealt with criticizing the egomaniac currently (and embarrassingly to any sane American) sitting in the White House.
CNN reports that a phone call regarding Libyan migration issues and Trump’s new trade tariffs went astoundingly wrong between the formerly friendly pair. Having already alienated allies in Mexico, Canada, and the rest of the European Union, Trump must have expected nothing but more praise from Macron, who Trump has complimented by saying how “fit” his wife is while later embarrassing the French leader by announcing that he had dandruff on his shirt and brushing it off for him on camera in the White House.
Macron, however, was done flattering the U.S. president after his stunning decision to place trade tariffs on allied countries. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also visibly furious about the announcement, saying that “common sense” had left the American government.
Macron was equally, if not even more, critical in his statement in response to the tariffs.
‘This decision is not only illegal, it is a mistake on many points. It is a mistake because it responds to a worldwide unbalance that exists in the worst ways through fragmentations and economic nationalism. If these kind of things impacted our relations, it would have been the case since day one because he has decided to leave the Paris (climate) agreement.’
President Trump's phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron described as "bad" and "terrible" https://t.co/UqfQzM9R2s pic.twitter.com/jTuq2tD1QB
— CNN (@CNN) June 4, 2018
One source who spoke with CNN said that the call went terribly wrong when the subject of the new tariffs was raised.
‘Just bad. It was terrible. Macron thought he would be able to speak his mind, based on the relationship. But Trump can’t handle being criticized like that.’
Macron blasts Trump's tariffs prompted by "economic nationalism": "This is exactly what happened in the 1930s” https://t.co/182STKXAEn pic.twitter.com/24PjPXAZKB
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 1, 2018
Trump’s over-inflated ego is not a surprise to the more sane American people, who have watched their sitting president spin falsehoods and rant about his own greatness and attack any criticism of himself and his administration. It seems that Macron was just introduced to the real Donald Trump and discovered that his public face on Twitter is not just an act.
Featured image via Getty/Bloomberg