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US President Donald Trump took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron during his Davos summit speech on Wednesday, drawing laughs from the audience as he referenced the aviator sunglasses Macron wore during his own address the day before.
“I watched Emmanuel Macron yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses,” Trump said before stating he “actually likes Emmanuel.”
While Trump, who has repeatedly recounted his conversations with Macron while imitating his accent, claims he maintains a positive view of the French president, doubts have emerged that the two are headed for an impasse amid increasingly hostile rhetoric from both.
On Monday, Trump threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne after Macron refused to join his Board of Peace initiative, dismissing him as politically finished.
“Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump said. “What I’ll do is, if they feel like hostile, I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join.”
Macron’s second mandate — the maximum a French president can serve — ends in 2027. In late December 2025, he vowed to serve “until the last second” of his term.
As for the mirrored shades, the Élysée Palace earlier said Macron wore the sunglasses to protect an eye from an injury caused by a burst blood vessel.
During the address on Tuesday, Macron delivered a potent rebuke of Trump’s Greenland campaign, declaring Europe would resist “bullies” and reject “the law of the strongest” without naming the US president directly.
Trump also described pharmaceutical negotiations with Macron during his Davos remarks, claiming he needed roughly three minutes to convince countries to reverse their doubling of charges on US-made prescription drugs, while recounting how he blasted the French leader.
“Emmanuel, you’ve been taking advantage of the United States for the last 30 years,” Trump said he told Macron.
The public barbs followed Trump’s publication of private messages from Macron earlier this week.
In the leaked texts, the French leader, who addressed Trump as “my friend,” questioned the US president’s Greenland strategy, saying he “didn’t understand” it and suggested hosting an expanded G7 summit in Paris on Thursday that would include Russian officials.
‘Inflammatory’ pushback
France has recently positioned itself among the most outspoken European opponents of Trump’s territorial ambitions.
Macron has advocated for deploying the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument and slammed tariff threats linked to Greenland as “fundamentally unacceptable, even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty.”
Before Trump’s speech, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described recent pushback from France and the EU as “inflammatory” and advised European leaders for calm before reacting with anger.
Macron did not remain in Davos for Trump’s arrival on Wednesday, although officials left open the possibility of joining Ukraine-related discussions.
France has committed to contributing forces for a NATO exercise in Greenland. The country is among eight European nations threatened with US tariffs beginning at 10% next month and escalating to 25% by June unless they back Washington’s acquisition of the territory which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
