French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed remarks by US President Donald Trump about his wife Brigitte, after Trump mocked her and said she “treats him extremely badly” in a video posted online.
“The remarks that I heard and to which you are referring are neither elegant nor appropriate,” Macron told reporters upon arriving in South Korea, where he is on an official visit with his wife.
“So I will not respond to them, this does not deserve a response,” he said.
Trump made the comments during a private lunch on Wednesday in a video briefly posted on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked.
Trump mocks Macron
In the video, Trump said he had called Macron to ask for “help in the Gulf”.
Before describing the exchange, he said Brigitte Macron “treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” referring to a video from May 2025 that appeared to show her pushing her husband’s face during a trip to Vietnam.
At the time, Macron denied any dispute, saying they were “joking as we often do.”
Trump said he asked Macron to “please send ships immediately” and, mimicking a French accent, claimed Macron replied: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won’”.
Trump 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.”
Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly, criticised the remarks. “Honestly, it’s not up to par,” she told French public radio. “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,” she said.
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French political backlash
Even Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), defended Macron despite frequent disagreements.
“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.
Trump later called on Europe to take control of the Gulf route as he said the United States was “very close” to ending the war with Iran.
NATO countries have been reluctant to get involved while Iran continues to target commercial ships with drones and missiles.
Macron said on Thursday that using force would not work. “Some people defend the idea of freeing the Strait of Hormuz by force through a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States, though it has varied,” he told reporters in Seoul.
“This was never the option we have supported because we consider it to be unrealistic,” he said. “It would take forever, and would involve a lot of risks.”
He said a diplomatic approach was needed. “If there is no diplomatic and technical negotiation framework, the situation could deteriorate again with months, or years.”
(with AFP)
