French President Macron came away from his meeting with Donald Trump unimpressed as he compared his handshake with Trump to a moment of truth with authoritarian dictators.
Macron’s comments to a French newspaper were translated by The Guardian:
“My handshake with him – it wasn’t innocent,†Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in an interview on Sunday. “It’s not the be-all and the end-all of a policy, but it was a moment of truth.â€
“Donald Trump, the Turkish president or the Russian president see relationships in terms of a balance of power, Macron said. “That doesn’t bother me. I don’t believe in diplomacy by public abuse, but in my bilateral dialogues I won’t let anything pass.â€
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It was a moment that showed Trump that his strongman bully tactics weren’t going to work with the French president.
Video of the handshake:
The White House is trying to sell Trump’s trip as a success with the folks back home, but the reality is that the Pope’s expression said it all when he met Trump, NATO leaders laughed at Trump when tried to lecture them, and the exhausted president was literally left leading from behind as he was too tired to walk with the other G7 leaders and had to follow behind in a golf cart. For good measure, Trump also appeared out of it and wandered off during a meeting with Israel, only to be brought back by staff.
Macron’s comments that the lumped the US president in with authoritarians should be troubling to the American people, but it is also evidence of Trump’s failure to push around US allies. The world is not to going to bend to Trump, so he will either have to come to the table as a partner, or the world’s only superpower will be left behind.
Trump didn’t shape policy. He isolated the US from the rest of the world, which is why his trip was a failure.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
