Trump slams Macron over approval ratings, disdain for nationalism, wine policy
Fresh from criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for an EU army, President Trump attacked his European counterpart’s approval ratings, disdain for nationalism...and wine policy.
“On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!” Trump tweeted, according to Russia Today.
Trump then segued into an attack on Macron’s popularity at home. While Trump’s own approval rating has swung between 37 and 51 percent in his almost two years in office, Macron’s has plummeted since he was elected in May 2017, and now sits around 26 percent.
Trump, however, blamed some of Macron’s unpopularity on his distaste for nationalism. At an Armistice Day commemoration in Paris at the weekend, Macron delivered a passionate speech tearing down Trump’s ‘America First’ brand of nationalism and comparing it to the ideologies that dragged Europe into conflict in the 20th Century.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Macron pontificated on Sunday. “By saying our interests first, who cares about the others, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values."