French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday dismissed Donald Trump’s mocking remarks about his marriage, calling them “neither elegant nor up to standard,” and said they did not deserve a response.
However, following days of tension over US-Israeli strikes on Iran and NATO disagreements, an apparently frustrated Macron delivered a pointed message of his own.
“There is too much talk” and “this is not a show,” he declared.
Trump had ridiculed the French leader and his wife during a private lunch on Wednesday while criticizing NATO allies for not joining a war against Iran.
He imitated a French accent and said Macron’s wife “treats him extremely badly” and that the president was still “recovering from the right to the jaw.”
Speaking from Seoul, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, Macron told reporters, “So I am not going to respond to them, they do not merit a response.”
He emphasized that attention should instead focus on “work towards de-escalation” in the Middle East and pursuing a ceasefire.
“There is too much talk, and it’s all over the place,” Macron added, seemingly alluding to Trump’s policy reversals. “We all need stability, calm, a return to peace — this isn’t a show!”
– ‘Mocking others’ –
Trump’s latest jab sparked anger among French politicians.
“Honestly, it’s not up to par,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament. “We are currently discussing the future of the world. Right now in Iran, this is having consequences for the lives of millions of people, people are dying on the battlefield, and we have a president who is laughing, who is mocking others.”
Even Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party, who frequently criticizes Macron, came to the president’s defense.
“You are aware of the extent of my disagreements with the president, but for Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner, I find that absolutely unacceptable,” Bompard told BFMTV.
Le Figaro, a conservative French daily, described the episode as “Another controversial outburst from Donald Trump.”
– ‘Still recovering’ –
Trump briefly posted a video on the White House YouTube channel mocking Macron and the French, before it was blocked.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Trump said. “I call up France, Macron — whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw.”
He was referencing a May 2025 clip that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving her husband’s face during a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later dismissed as disinformation. At the time, he denied any “domestic dispute,” noting they were “joking as we often do.”
Trump continued, “And I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately.’”
Mimicking a French accent, Trump then recounted Macron’s alleged reply: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,’” Trump said.
“I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel,’” he added.
“So I learned about NATO — NATO won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump said, without further explanation. He also labeled NATO a “paper tiger,” continuing his attacks on the alliance since returning to the White House.
Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its NATO relationship once the war against Iran concludes.
