His Washington visit has been a masterclass in how to handle the world’s most important narcissist. The buddying-up yesterday followed by the perfectly nuanced dissing of Trump policies in his speech to Congress today.
Emmanuel Macron. Man of the year
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Gives one hope for the future of the planet.
How long until we hear the words “Macron is a very bad man…”?
Not very long.
Macron is a very bad man.
Trump publicly removed some “dandruff” from his jacket! Dandruff!
He might as well have said “hey, there’s a strange smell in here – you might not have wiped your ass properly….”
“Hey, can you smell garlic?”
This is quite amusing, by Telegraph standards, but has a grain of truth too – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/monkey-business-would-primatologist-make-trump-macron-bromance/
Personally I thought he was kissing ass and made himself look like the weak twat that he is. Man of the year? You must be kidding.
Cheerleader for a buffoon.
As resident I know there is deep unease here that Macron is hell-bent on dismantling many of the things that make France France (whether they may be good or bad) but to call that speech he gave in Congress (you know the one where Democrats kept getting to their feet to applaud, not believing they were hearing a foreign prime minister directly contradicting Trump) that of a buffoon kissing ass beggars belief
Frankly didn’t listen to the speech but was referring to his fawning at the White House and before that his dinner at the Eiffel Tower and his rush to suggest that Trump bombs Syria. He has also jbacktracked on his country’s support of the Iran nuclear deal. In short he has been Trumps stooge and is clearly a chameleon politician. I repeat my assertion that to suggest he is man of the year is clearly bonkers.
Prior to leaving the US, Macron was quoted as describing US backtracking on foreign policy issues like the Paris climate deal and Iran as ‘insane”.
You forget Macron is French. In my former life I had many, many business dealings with French companies. Meeting after meeting would end with complete agreement re next steps etc. Weeks later you would find the French doing exactly the opposite ie what they wanted to do all along. So Macron does the fawning stuff, the photo opportunities, gives Trump a tonguie etc then next day stands up in Congress and tells the world the US President is a twat. Her’s a shoo-in for Man of the Year.
I think we need to see tangible results before we start handing out the bouquets. For all the standing ovations in Congress yesterday, Washington politics seems in a state of near paralysis. The Republicans can ‘fix’ Trump if they choose, but they seem happy to stand idly by as Trump and his henchmen take their wrecking ball to international agreements and established norms.
Until next week Lodestone when Trump tells him to jump and he asks how high.
I don’t think you will see the same sickly behaviour from Merkel when she visits and she has more relevance than Macron that’s for sure even with her diminished support back in Germany.
Macron will help France make a lurch to the right if he carries on with his current policy of speaking out the side of his mouth. Not to be trusted – mark my words.
So you’re not too sure about our M of the Y?
The SNCF is his Miners Strike, non? If he can beat the train drivers he can do what he wants. Chirac and Sarkozy didn’t and they couldn’t.
I lived in France for 6 years and worked in two French companies and that is a work methodology I recognise very clearly!
My point was that whatever you think of EM’s policies, he seems alone in understanding how to handle Trump. And therefore is streets ahead of other leaders in getting him onside.
As ever MC is, like, spot on
Er no he isn’t.
Trump sang the praises of President Xi – now he is a dickhead apparently.
So Macron may think he got one over on him but its crap. Impossible to forge a good relationship wit Trump because he is only interested in himself. At least the French people recognise this more than their leader seems to.
I don’t think EM is that stupid. In his speech he was pitching to the Democrats – knowing that Trump is toast and they will have both houses by the end of the year, but either way France (and the EU) needs the US close.
Look at the stream of people coming out of the White House’s revolving door for past holders of the title “the only one who understands how to handle Trump”.
I think Dems are optimistic about mid-terms. But they aren’t a lock.
That said, I’m going to laugh my ass off if Ted Cruz loses.
Jings, you get out of the wrong side of bed today – you are making Mr Grumpy here feel like Mr Happy.
The rest of the ‘free’ world, unfortunately, needs to keep up some sort of relationship with the most powerful yet dangerous country out there ie The USA. Macron did a pretty fine job on his visit – first all the usual smoochy stuff but then and most importantly in one of the best speeches I have heard in a long time standing up before Congress and directly challenging Trump’s nonsensical views on Climate Change and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Whether or not Macron is one of the good guys we have to wait and see (I am personally sceptical) but unless you want to bury your head in the sand and say “Fuck Trump and all who sail in her” and watch whilst the crazy tosspot wakes up one morning and tweets “I just pressed this big red button” what else do you want The West to do?
And for heaven’s sake “frankly didn’t listen to the speech” renders your subsequent comments somewhat – searches for a suitably polite word but can’t find one…
It doesn’t render my subsequent comments any polite or impolite word that you care to attach to them. I clearly said that I based my views on ‘the smoochy stuff’ and Macron’s shameful involvement in pushing Trump to act in Syria. He then publicly renounces the Nuclear deal with Iran by saying they need a new deal that includes ballistic missiles. Do you think Iran as troublesome as it may be is going to renounce its ballistic missiles when the nutjob in Saudi has publicly stated that there will be a war between Saudi and Iran within the next 20 years? Don’t think so.
By the way I wasn’t being grumpy I was entering into a debate on whether EM deserves Man of the Year. My view is he doesn’t but I also have no idea who else would. Yes he stood up in Congress and made a speech that sat well with them. He isn’t going to stand up and say they are a load of tossers.
All politicians pay lip service and none did it better than Bill Clinton or Barack Obama in my opinion but did they really achieve anything to match Gorbachev who did it with actions not words?
I am bowing out of this exchange, have a nice evening. I’m listening to Paul Buchanan whilst The Comtesse finishes off today’s sketches. Blessed, that’s me.
Night night https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/25/politics/emmanuel-macron-donald-trump-congress-politics/index.html
My British friend who is a long-term French resident thinks he’s nothing special.
Possibly just as bad as his predecessors if not worse.
Not wishing to be seen as too pally with Trump is the default position for a leader of a non-US country, surely. Unless you’re in charge of Israel or Saudi Arabia.
They all know he’s a dangerous narcissistic imbecile but a few of them fear for their positions more than the others.
Let’s see how our beloved Theresa reacts when it’s her turn to welcome him in July.
I think Macron is a slithy tove, but at least he isn’t this choice ass hat:
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/13CA8/production/_101046018_gettyimages-629490050.jpg
A childish, misogynistic, narcissistic dickhead… meets the US President.
Friday 13th. A storm is coming…
Or a Stormy.
(hur)
Macron must be an improvement on Chirac and Hollande – I mean, who wouldn’t be…and he is a good performer, but I await real results with interest. I was there the last time a president resolved to turn over the old ways and change the labour market etc, resulting in 6 weeks of paralysing strikes, no food in supermarkets, burning tyres on motorways, Paris paralysed with traffic as the metro was closed – following which the government gave up and dished out more than they had before. My French colleagues told me they need “une Thatcher” – I told them to be careful what they wished for….hmm, let’s see. I don’t see it, personally.
I only worked there for a less than a year but actually found myself uttering the words “What this country needs is a dose of Thatcherism”… albeit closely followed by “…wash my mouth out with soap and water”
and the US got a “tas de chair”.