Macron blasted as US-French ties sour

Criticism comes after French leader suggested building 'European army'

US President Donald Trump unleashed a series of verbal attacks against France on Tuesday, taking aim at his counterpart Emmanuel Macron's approval rating, his vision for the military and French trade policies on wine.

Ramping up his criticism of Macron, who last week suggested Europe should build its own army to reduce its dependence on the United States, Trump tweeted that "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 US came along," he said.

Speaking of trade, Trump said that "France makes excellent wine, but so does the US".

"The problem is that France makes it very hard for the US to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the US makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!"

Trump added that Macron "suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%", and said the French leader "was just trying to get onto another subject".

"By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people - and rightfully so!" Trump added.

Macron is hovering at around 30 percent in popularity polls, while the unemployment rate is just above 9 percent.

The French president first drew Trump's ire after an interview with French radio station Europe 1, in which he called for a "true European army" in part so that the continent would not have to rely on the US for defense.

Before arriving in Paris on Friday for his visit to mark the World War I centenary at the weekend, Trump tweeted that Macron's suggestion was "very insulting" and said that France should "first pay its fair share of NATO".

Macron's office on Tuesday papered over Trump's series of tweets, saying the two leaders maintained their bilateral ties.

"The relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump is not always easy, but it is continuous," a source from the Elysee Palace said.

According to AP, Trump has long been irritated at countries in the NATO alliance that do not spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on their militaries, claiming that the US has had to subsidize the military spending of other nations.

Backing from Merkel

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Macron on Tuesday, saying the Europe need its own defense strength and a "real European army".

Such as move, Merkel said, would "show the world that there will never again be war between European countries".

He Zhigao, a researcher at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the primary aim of European integration is to avoid war among European countries, adding that Trumps' remarks have shown his pursuit of "America First" policy, which will undoubtedly bring uncertainty to the EU-US relations.

"The dangers of this uncertainty are manifested in the security realm in transatlantic relations, which is demonstrated by the divergence between Europe and the US on the Iran policy, intermediate-range nuclear missile treaty and NATO security architecture. This poses a major challenge to peace and development in Europe," he said.

Cui Hongjian, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said Macron's proposal of European defense cooperation is an important move by France to seek European security and reduce dependence on the US.

He said now that Europe and the world are confronted with a new wave of populism and are at risk of being trapped in a zero-sum game, Europe should hold fast to its original faith and get back onto the track of cooperation and integration due to the uncertain circumstances.

Xinhua and AP contributed to this story.

panmengqi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/15/2018 page12)