French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s mocking comments about his marriage did not merit a response, calling them “neither elegant nor up to standard.”

After days of tensions over the Iran war and Trump’s threats to exit NATO, an apparently irritated Macron launched a broadside of his own, saying “there is too much talk” and “this is not a show.”

On Wednesday, Trump made fun of the French president and his wife at a private lunch as he lambasted NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran.

The US president imitated a French accent and said that Macron’s wife “treats him extremely badly” and that Macron was still “recovering from the right to the jaw” — a reference to an infamous 2025 video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving the French president’s face on a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign.

On a visit to Seoul Thursday, Macron, who was accompanied by his wife, said of the comments: “I am not going to respond to them — they do not merit a response.”

The focus instead should be on “work toward de-escalation” in the Middle East and a ceasefire, Macron said.

Trump mocks Macron again: I called up France, Macron, whose wife treats him extremely badly and he’s still recovering from the right to the jaw. pic.twitter.com/bEJgfKaVRg Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_1', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_1', } ]); }); } — Clash Report (@clashreport) April 1, 2026

Trump mocks Macron again:

I called up France, Macron, whose wife treats him extremely badly and he’s still recovering from the right to the jaw. pic.twitter.com/bEJgfKaVRg

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 1, 2026

“There is too much talk, and it’s all over the place,” the French president said, apparently referring to Trump’s often chaotic rhetoric on the war.

“We all need stability, calm, a return to peace — this isn’t a show!” Macron said.

Trump’s latest broadside against Macron angered French politicians.

“Honestly, it’s not up to par,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament.

“We are currently discussing the future of the world. Right now in Iran, this is having consequences for the lives of millions of people, people are dying on the battlefield, and we have a president who is laughing, who is mocking others,” she told Franceinfo.

Even Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party, who is often critical of the president, rushed to Macron’s defense.

“You are aware of the extent of my disagreements with the president, but for Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner — I find that absolutely unacceptable,” Bompard told broadcaster BFMTV.

Conservative French daily Le Figaro said: “Another controversial outburst from Donald Trump.”

‘I don’t need after the war’

Trump said he’d told Macron during a recent conversation: “‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf, even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately.'”

He then mimicked a French accent to give Macron’s alleged answer: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won.’

Trump went on: “I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel.’

“So I learned about NATO — NATO won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump said, without elaborating.

He also branded NATO a “paper tiger,” the latest salvo by Trump and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its relationship with NATO once the war against Iran has concluded.

Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:

Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;

Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and

Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 Iran, Hezbollah launch attacks as Israelis host Passover Seders, sending millions to shelters

2 Top Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut as IDF presses deeper into Lebanon

3 Influencer performs Nazi salute, mocks Holocaust victims at Ohio University event

4 Trump claims Iran wants truce, but set to say war will last 2-3 more weeks

5 US op to seize Iran’s uranium would take weeks, require building a runway — report

6 Address to the nationTrump declares US ‘nearing completion’ of ‘core strategic objectives’ in Iran war

7 UK police arrest three more suspects in arson attack on Jewish community ambulances

8 AOC signals opposition to all Israel aid, including defensive spending

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

© The Times of Israel