French President Emmanuel Macron refused to comment Tuesday on a phone conversation he had with President Trump in the wake of Trump’s decision to rescind exemptions for certain members of the European Union on his newly enacted steel and aluminum tariffs.

“As Bismarck used to say, if we explained to people how sausages were made, it’s unlikely they’d keep eating them,” Macron told reporters at a press conference in Paris, France, referring to Otto von Bismarck, an influential 19th century Prussian leader.