French President Emmanuel Macron has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump for prioritising national interests ahead of global ones, saying his policies “have been done to the detriment of his allies.”
President Macron made the comments during an interview on Thursday with Argentinian newspaper La Nacion ahead the G-20 meeting of leaders from the world’s leading industrialised and developing economies in Buenos Aires.
Macron outlined that though France and the U.S. are “historic” allies and doubts the “strategic relationship” between the two countries is in question, “certain recent decisions by the United States have been made against the interests of its allies.
“In these situations, I always clearly affirmed the French and European positions.
“It is in these times of crisis when it is necessary to defend our common values that rely on the multilateral model and cooperation.”
The French premier also criticised President Trump for threatening to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in the new year over what President Trump calls China’s “unfair” trade practices, claiming a “commercial war” between China and the U.S. would be “destructive to all.”
President Trump has been abiding by his campaign promises by withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, announcing the U.S. will reject the UN Migration Compact in efforts to cut migration and asylum numbers, and has continued to excoriate NATO allies who have failed to pay their share while the U.S. continues to provide defence for Europe.
President Trump and Macron have clashed in recent weeks over the Frenchman’s comments that the European Union needs its own army to defend against the United States, as well as condemning nationalism and praising globalism in clear rebuke of the patriotic U.S. president.
The French premier made another defence of globalism during the interview with La Nacion, claiming that the growing “nationalist phenomenon” is temporary, and is the result of the “anguish” expressed by the working and middle classes over globalisation “whose benefits they do not see.”
As an example of globalism in action, he described how the EU had become more united and was able to respond with one voice when it was allegedly “attacked” by the U.S. over trade, with American president saying in July that the EU was almost as bad as China — only smaller.
“When the EU was attacked by the U.S. trade measures, it reacted immediately, in a united way. This would not have happened a few years ago.”
Macron also evoked his “regret” that the U.S. decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, saying that countries must use the upcoming Cop24 meeting in Katowice, Poland, to set climate rules that are “robust, clear, and operative.”
“We must use this forum to show the ambition of all those who want not only to preserve the Paris Agreement, but also to go further, specifying or reinforcing their climate commitments,” he added.
Macron’s public image is suffering at home in France due to his green policies, with Yellow Vest activists holding up traffic and protesting across the country after the French have seen taxes on fuel rise 23 per cent in 12 months.
Defiant in the face of civil unrest and disenfranchised citizens, Macron vows there will be “no retreat” from his environmental reforms.
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