Trump “doesn’t think highly” of Macron, says John Bolton

Appearances can be deceiving. Despite the gestures of friendship displayed between the American president and the French president, Donald Trump “does not have a high opinion” of Emmanuel Macron, according to John Bolton. The former national security adviser to the President of the United States was on Monday, October 19 on RTL radio on the occasion of the release of his explosive book, The room it happened in: 453 days in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.

“Macron tried to flatter Trump. That’s a strategy that has often worked. But I don’t think Trump was impressed by Macron,” he added. Taking the opposite view of many European counterparts, Emmanuel Macron had first multiplied the honors and the courtesies towards the President of the United States. But his bet has hardly paid off, from Iranian nuclear power to the international climate agreement.

“A game of superiority”

The relationship between the two leaders seems first to have been defined by a manly handshake of 29 seconds during their first meeting in May 2017. Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron then displayed their good understanding during a state visit of the French President in Washington in April 2018.

During this streak, President Trump dusted some, perhaps imaginary, film of his guest’s jacket. For John Bolton, it was “exactly a game of superiority”. The former adviser, now very critical of Donald Trump, reiterated that he would not vote for him on November 3 after “the damage he inflicted during his first term”. “He’s a ‘looser’ (loser). He sees the world divided between losers and winners and he’s falling into the wrong camp,” Bolton said.