US President Donald Trump unexpectedly attacked France on Monday during a televised Fox News interview, declaring directly, “we’ve had a lot of problems with the French.” Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham initially questioned the US President about Chinese students enrolling in American universities; she argued, “they’re not the French, they’re the Chinese. They spy on us. They steal our intellectual property.”
However, Trump abruptly interrupted the discussion, questioning her premise by asking, “Do you think the French are better, really? I will tell you, I’m not so sure.”
From Handshakes to Hard Talk
Although Trump maintains a heated trade war with Beijing, he previously shared a well-catalogued, hands-on political friendship with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, including highly visible muscular handshakes and mutual backslapping for the cameras. Furthermore, Macron once personally called the American leader in September to report the presidential convoy was blocking him on a New York street as he hurried from the United Nations headquarters to an important meeting.
Despite this apparent camaraderie, the two leaders’ bromance has always appeared occasionally tetchy, especially since Trump notably opposed Macron’s climate policy and his recognition of a Palestinian state. Moreover, the US leader has consistently urged Europe to step up domestic defense funding through NATO, placing Macron at the heart of efforts to keep Trump supportive of military aid for Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Digital Taxes Become a US Problem
Consequently, in the Fox interview, Trump swiftly switched focus from concerns about China to France’s taxation policies, claiming they represented a significant issue for the United States. Specifically, Trump asserted, “We’ve had a lot of problems with the French where we get taxed unfairly on our technology,” clearly linking his irritation to economics.
Previously, Trump announced he would impose substantial extra tariffs on any countries that introduced similarly “discriminatory” digital taxes targeting American firms. Ingraham’s initial questions about the administration’s fluctuating policies on foreign students ultimately sparked these outspoken comments regarding France’s economic practices.
This fluctuation has recently included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement in May that Washington would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” though just months later, Trump contradicted that position, claiming the country would permit 600,000 Chinese students to “come in.”
