U.S. President Donald Trump slapped down his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron over the latter’s fuel tax climbdown.
“I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago,” Trump tweeted Tuesday night. “The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters.”
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday announced a six-month suspension of the government’s controversial fuel tax in response to weeks of violent protests by the Yellow Jackets movement. Climate skeptics have seized on the protests and the government’s subsequent reversal to push back against action on climate change.
While Trump and Macron started the year with a very public friendship, over the past few months, relations between the two presidents have soured.
In November, Trump responded to Macron’s call for a “true European army” by writing: “Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two — How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
He also took a potshot at tariffs on French wine and Macron’s low approval ratings, and followed with a call to “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”
The French president parried back with a terse: “I do not do policy or diplomacy by tweets.”
I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago. The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2018