French President Macron charms both US parties with impassioned speech to Congress, challenging Trump’s agenda
On trade, climate and Iran, the visiting French leader laid out the case for alternatives to the White House’s positions
Before French President Emmanuel Macron delivered an address at a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, the headlines about his trip to Washington centred on his apparent “bromance” with US President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the duo engaged in a series of physical embraces and celebrated both their personal rapport as well as the “unbreakable” bonds between France and the United States.
But on Wednesday, as his three-day visit drew to a close, Macron shifted the story dramatically. In his speech to American lawmakers, he offered a comprehensive rejection of the main tenets of Trumpism, excoriating “extreme nationalism” and protectionism, championing climate-change science and defending the international liberal order.
“You can play with anger and fear for a time, but they do not construct anything,” Macron said, alluding to the themes that fuel right-wing nationalist movements in the West.
Macron delivered an impassioned call for multilateralism and US engagement in the world, saying it was “an essential part of our confidence in the future.”
Macron recalled the long history of US-French relations, and the countries’ shared values and culture in areas as diverse as democracy and freedom, human and civil rights, literature, jazz and the “Me Too” movement. But, he warned, “this is a time of determination and courage. What we cherish is at stake. What we love is in danger. We have no choice but to prevail. And together we shall prevail.”