Emmanuel Macron has said Donald Trump's comments about his marriage were "neither elegant nor level-headed" after the US president used a French accent and mocked his French counterpart and his wife during a private lunch in Washington.
Arriving in South Korea on Thursday, Macron made clear his displeasure with Trump's comments, which appeared briefly in a video on the White House's YouTube channel before being removed.
"So I won't respond to them [Trump's comments] - they don't deserve a response," Macron told reporters.
There was outrage in France after Donald Trump appeared to mock Emmanuel Macron and his wife during a luncheon on Wednesday, attended by religious leaders and government figures in Washington, while criticizing NATO allies for not uniting in the fight against Iran.
Imitation of a French accent, Trump said Macron's wife, Brigitte, "treats him extremely badly." Speaking about his request for France's help regarding Iran, Trump said: "We didn't need them, but I asked anyway."
He added: "I call Macron of France - whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from a blow to the jaw."
Trump appeared to be referring to a video from May 2025 that appeared to show Brigitte Macron pushing her husband's face away as they prepared to disembark from a plane on an official visit to Vietnam.
At lunch, Trump continued: “And I said, Emmanuel, we would like to have help in the Persian Gulf even though we are setting records in eliminating bad guys and eliminating ballistic missiles. We would like to have help. If you can, could you send us ships right away.”
Trump then appeared to try to use a French accent to deliver Macron's supposed response: "'No, no, no, we can't do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,'" he said. "I said, no, no, I don't need to after the war is won, Emmanuel," Trump said.
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