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Trump is very mad at France right now

"MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN"
trump macron
Reuters

Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that French tariffs were too high, Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating was too low, encouraged nationalists to “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN” and suggested they’d be speaking German in Paris if it weren't for Uncle Sam. All before his breakfast croissant.

The president started with a garbled missive directed at his French counterpart:

“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!”

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A series of bizarre posts quickly followed:

Trump also addressed criticism of his failure to visit the American war cemetery at Belleau in France during the weekend's visit to Europe because of rain.

Trump original tweet referred to a call made by Macron last week for the creation of a “true European army” to “protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.”

Macron was specifically talking about the need for more cybersecurity regulation, but Trump misconstrued the comments.

“President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the US, China, and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of Nato, which the US subsidizes greatly,” Trump tweeted last week on his way to Paris.

During a ceremony in the French capital to mark the 100th anniversary of the World War 1, Macron launched a thinly-veiled attack on Trump and his “America First” policies.

“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Marcon told an audience of world leaders including Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, ‘our interest first, who cares about the others?’”

Trump addressed this point on Tuesday, saying “there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people, and rightfully so.”

Cover image: Brigitte Macron, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Morocco's King Mohammed VI attend a commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, November 11, 2018. (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool)