French President Emmanuel Macron has described comments made by Donald Trump regarding his marriage as “neither elegant nor up to standard” after the US President mocked him and his wife during a private function in Washington.
Arriving in South Korea on Thursday, Macron expressed his displeasure but stated that the remarks “do not merit a response”.
The incident occurred during a Wednesday lunch attended by faith leaders and government officials, where Trump was reportedly lambasting NATO allies for their lack of involvement in the war against Iran .
According to witnesses, the US President mimicked a French accent and claimed that Macron’s wife, Brigitte, “treats him extremely badly” .
Trump specifically referenced a video from May 2025 recorded during a state visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, which appeared to show Mrs Macron pushing her husband as they exited a plane. Referring to the footage, Trump remarked that the French leader was “still recovering from the right to the jaw”.
At the time of the original incident, Macron had dismissed claims of a dispute, stating the couple were simply “joking”.
The US President also used the gathering to mock Macron’s cautious military stance in the Gulf . Again using a fake accent, Trump claimed Macron had declined to send ships immediately, allegedly saying, “No, no, no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won”.
Trump further suggested that NATO “won’t be there if we ever have the big one,” though he did not clarify the term .
The comments have drawn sharp condemnation across the French political spectrum. Yaël Braun-Pivet, the centrist president of France’s lower house of parliament, told a public broadcaster that the behaviour was “not up to par,” noting the gravity of the situation in Iran where “people are dying on the battlefield”.
Manuel Bompard, national coordinator of the radical left party La France Insoumise, also defended the president, labelling Trump’s conduct “absolutely unacceptable”.
The conservative daily Le Figaro described the event as “another controversial outburst from Donald Trump”. A video of the mocking segment was briefly available on the White House YouTube channel before being removed
