President Trump hinted Tuesday that France needs a change in leadership as he delivered a series of jabs on Twitter at French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
Over two hours, Trump accused Macron of trying to pivot from his own low approval ratings and high unemployment rate by condemning nationalism after the American president embraced the loaded term “nationalist” on the campaign trail.
“By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!” Trump tweeted. He then added in a second tweet, “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”
[Opinion: What Macron means by patriotism]
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!……..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
……MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
Trump also called for a change in French tariffs on U.S. wine, and claimed French citizens would be speaking German if it wasn’t for the U.S. in World War II.
On Trade, 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. 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. Pay for NATO or not!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018
The tweets mark an apparent shift in the relationship between the two leaders who shared a warm relationship in the past two years.
“We do have a very special relationship,” Trump said in April when Macron visited the White House, brushing dandruff off Macron’s shoulder. “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”
