Politics - News Analysis

Trump Slams Macron as a ‘Short Pain in the Ass’ Following Video Showing World Leaders Mocking Him

Donald Trump vented about French President Emmanuel Macron after a viral video showed world leaders mocking the American leader at a recent NATO meeting in London.

The famously sensitive Trump disparaged Macron in a private meeting earlier this month at the White House with more than a dozen ambassadors to the United Nations, according to the Daily Beast.

The press was allowed into the room for the beginning of the meeting, during which time the ambassadors each thanked the president for inviting them to the White House and underscored their interest in working with the U.S. on trade, foreign policy, and national security. The permanent representatives hailed from countries such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, South Africa, Russia and China.

It wasn’t until after the press left the room that Trump addressed what had become known in the halls of the White House as the “hot mic” story.

In the UN meeting, Trump called the French president a “pain in the ass” and said he was “short,” according to a person at the meeting. Trump also criticized Macron for not doing enough to help him in negotiations with Iran.

Just days prior, Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte were caught on video at a NATO reception gossiping about Trump.

“He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference at the top,” Trudeau said. “You just watch his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”

The next day, Trump called Trudeau “two-faced.” The president also criticized Trudeau in the luncheon with ambassadors, though specific details about his comments were not reported.

Representatives from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, South Africa, Russia, and China were in the room for Trump’s comments. Some became “visibly uncomfortable” over Trump’s criticism of Macron and Trudeau, a person at the meeting said.

Though Trump and Macron used to share a friendly, cordial relationship, those days appear well behind them. And even before the friendship collapsed, the U.S. president would still mean-tweet the French leader from time to time, including when he posted to Twitter a year ago, “The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%.”

But things have been even rockier with Trudeau, who the president has for years regarded as an even bigger pain than Macron. The viral video, in which Trudeau is seen as the ringleader of the Trump mockery, didn’t help.

Comments

Comments are currently closed.