French President Emmanuel Macron used his Wednesday address to a joint session of Congress to reject some of the key policy goals that President Trump has pursued, by calling on the U.S. to embrace multilateralism, stick with the global climate deal, and stay in the Iran nuclear agreement that Trump has threatened to leave.
Trump and Macron got along famously during Macron’s state visit this week, but during his remarks to Congress, he seemed to be encouraging the U.S. to strike out in directions Trump has been unwilling to take, including on the broad issue of multilateralism. He specifically warned about the potential breakdown of NATO and the United Nations, as he called for principles of “a strong multilateralism” to guide American and European leaders.
“Today, the international community needs to step up our game to build the 21st century world order based on the perennial principles we established together after World War II,” Macron said. “If we do not act with urgency as a global community, I am convinced that international institutions, including the United Nations and NATO, will no longer be able to exercise a mandate and stabilizing influence. We would then inevitably and severely undermine the liberal order we built after World War II.”
Trump, in contrast, has called the U.N. “useless” and has threatened to withhold money from the UN after a vote there that criticized his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Macron’s repeated celebration of the postwar order also broke with Trump’s criticism of those international institutions in his inaugural address in 2017.
“For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; we’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own; and spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay,” Trump said then. “The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.”
Macron countered Wednesday, “The United States is the one who invented this multilateralism. You are the one now who has to work to preserve and reinvent it.”
He argued that world leaders have a responsibility to promote a positive vision for global cooperation as a solution to national problems.
“Both in the United States and in Europe, we are living in a time of anger and fear … but these feelings do not build anything; you can play with fears and angers for a time, but they do not construct anything,” he said. “We can choose isolationism, withdrawal, and nationalism … but closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world. It will not douse but inflame the fears of our citizens.”
That warning went against Trump’s promises as he took the oath of office.
“From this moment on, it’s going to be America first,” the president said. “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.”
During their joint press conference Tuesday, Trump stressed the individual nature of countries and the importance of letting countries be led by their own citizens.
“Both of our elections owe much of the success to the desire of everyday citizens to be heard, to be listened to, and to have control over their own nations and their own futures,” as Trump put it. “Let us demonstrate through our partnership that the voice of the people will always reign — at all times it will reign.”
Macron seemed to suggest Tuesday that he shares those goals, while arguing that they can only be achieved through the “strong multilateralism” that Trump regards with skepticism.
“This strong multilateralism is a unique option compatible with our nations, our cultures, our identities,” Macron said. “With the U.S. president, with the support of every 535 members of this joint session representing the whole American nation, we can actively contribute together to building the 21st century world order for our people. The United States and Europe have an historical role in this respect, because it is the only way to defend what we believe in, to promote our universal values, to express strongly that human rights, the rights of minorities, and shared liberty are the true answer to the disorders of the world.”
Macron also didn’t shy away from particular foreign policy disagreements, as European leaders are trying to convince Trump not to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement negotiated during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“We signed it at the initiative of the United States,” Macron said. “We signed it, both the United States and France. That is why we cannot say we should get rid of it like that.”
Macron acknowledged the need to put additional pressure on Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, as Trump desires. “That is true,” he said. “But we should not abandon it without having something substantial, and more substantial instead.”
Trump has threatened to leave the Iran deal, saying it fails to restrain the regime’s regional aggression and made unacceptable concessions regarding the nuclear program and ballistic missile development.
Macron also went against Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris Climate Accord, and predicted the U.S. would soon return to that deal.
“I am sure, one day, the United States will come back and join the Paris agreement,” he said. “Let us work together in order to make our planet great again and create new jobs and new opportunities while safeguarding our earth.”
But Trump pulled out of the Paris deal last year, and has made no sign that the U.S. is about to reverse that decision.
