A phone call between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron about trade and migration reportedly went south after the French president bluntly criticized the U.S. presidents policies, according to CNN on Monday.
The pair spoke last Thursday, the same day that the United States announced it would impose steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union, Mexico and Canada.
“Just bad. It was terrible,” an unnamed source told CNN. “Macron thought he would be able to speak his mind, based on the relationship. But Trump cant handle being criticized like that.”
Despite the latest setback, the pair have forged an unlikely friendship. Macron has told the BBC he has a “very direct” relationship with Trump, and his aides have said he considers himself Trumps “interpreter in Europe.”
In a statement released by the Elysée Palace prior to the call, Macron said he “regrets” the U.S. tariff decision and it is “not only illegal, it is a mistake on many points. It is a mistake because it responds to a worldwide unbalance that exists in the worst ways through fragmentations and economic nationalism.”
A White House readout on the call confirms that the two discussed trade and migration.
“Both leaders discussed the migration problem in Libya, and timelines to solve it. President Trump underscored the need to rebalance trade with Europe,” the readout states.
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