President Donald Trump has sparked outrage after mocking an altercation between French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte in which she appeared to push him in the face.
In comments made during a private lunch, Trump appeared to express frustration over a lack of support for his war in Iran from Nato and European allies having earlier suggested that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing America from the alliance.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” he said in a video that was briefly posted to the White House’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, before it was taken down.
“I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly… Still recovering from the right to the jaw.”
The comments appeared to be a reference to a viral video that circulated last year that shows Macron’s wife shoving the French politician as they attempted to leave their plane in Vietnam.
Asked about the remarks during a trip to South Korea, Macron said they were “neither elegant nor up to standard”.
Politicians across France, including staunch opponents of Macron, have defended the French leader after Trump’s attack.
“Honestly, it’s not up to par,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament in comments to Franceinfo on Thursday.
“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.”
The leader of France’s radical left La France Insoumise party, Even Manuel Bompard, told BFMTV: “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.”
An Elysee official initially played down the moment at the time of the incident last year, saying: “It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh.”
Macron later admitted that the couple had been “squabbling” and that the attention to the incident was surprising to him.
“We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife,” he told reporters in the aftermath of the video. “I’m surprised by it, it turns into some kind of global catastrophe where people are even coming up with theories to explain it. It’s nonsense.”
