French President Emmanuel Macron appeared in humiliating scenes today during a live video meeting of G7 leaders to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
In awkward footage shared with global leaders, the premiere of France appeared perched on the edge of a desk next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House.
The 47-year-old looked ill-at-ease with the seating arrangement, which saw him sat to the right of Mr Trump who himself was positioned in the centre of the desk in a large comfortable-looking leather chair.
To Mr Trump’s left, his vice-president JD Vance sat with a nonchalant wide-legged stance with a long red tie passing below his navel.
Earlier it was reported the US President did not greet his French counterpart when Mr Macron arrived at the White House in Washington, instead leaving the greeting to his Chief of Protocol, Monica Crowley.
Macron and Trump also clashed as they discussed the war in Ukraine. The French President challenged his US counterpart over his demands for Ukraine to hand over £400bn’s worth of minerals.
Mr Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could sign the deal as early as next week.
Downing Street will no doubt be watching closely how Mr Macron was received by the Trump administration who have been at odds with European allies after an apparent warming of relations from Washington towards Moscow in recent days.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to fly to the US on Thursday for talks at the White House.
Mr Trump sparked anger and public rebuke from fellow Western leaders after he recently branded the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator”.
Mr Zelensky, who was on the video call with G7 leaders from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, had said Mr Trump lived in a “disinformation space”.
President Macron had said he intended to tell Mr Trump it was in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to show weakness to Putin during US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
He also suggested he’ll make the case that how Trump handles Putin could have enormous ramifications for US dealings with China, the United States’ most significant economic and military competitor.
Taking to social media after a serioes of White House statements slamming Ukraine, Mr Macron said: “You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin. It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest.
“How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?’”
Source : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2018800/donald-trump-brutally-humiliates-emmanuel-macron
