The rivalry between Macron and Trump reflects Europe’s desire for independence

From the start, Emmanuel Macron believed he could manage Donald Trump.

In private conversations with his European counterparts early in Trump’s first term, Macron reportedly boasted that he could “manage” the US president – flatter him, reason with him and keep him in the Western fold.

For a while, it worked: Trump was treated to a red-carpet Bastille Day parade in Paris and called the young French leader a “great friend.”

But the relationship quickly turned into a spectacle. The chemistry between the two leaders has always mixed cooperation and rivalry.

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Macron’s fight with Trump is more than personality: it’s projection. Each confrontation, phone call or quip fuels a larger mission: to show that Europe can once again act as a power.

While Trump reaffirms “America first”, Macron tries to define what “Europe first” could look like, an alliance that can stand up without flinching to Washington, Moscow or Beijing.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s fight with President Donald Trump is more than just personality: It’s a projection. (Evan Vucci – Piscine/Getty Images)

With the United States planning to boycott the 2025 G20 leaders’ summit because South Africa is hosting it, Macron is heading to Johannesburg – a sign of his willingness to go where Washington does not want to go.

Earlier in the week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Macron signed a deal for kyiv to buy 100 French Rafale jets instead of US-made fighters. a move that underscored France’s desire for European defense autonomy and sidelined U.S. manufacturers at a politically sensitive time.

“Zelensky is slapping a nation that saved him,” said former Rep. Mike Garcia, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. “After receiving nearly $180 billion in U.S. aid, including free planes, Zelensky turns to others when it is time for Ukraine to actually pay for its weapons systems.”

Before that, Macron recognized a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly despite American objections, prompting Trump to accuse him of “honoring Hamas.”

“As if to encourage continued conflict, some members of this body seek to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state,” Trump said during his speech to the UN General Assembly.

And in June, Macron visited Greenland to show European unity – a symbolic warning to Trump to step back from his long-held ambitions to control the island.

Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of buying Greenland from Denmark, attracted by its wealth of oil and minerals locked deep under the ice and its defense posture in the Arctic.

“Macron has always seen himself in the European context as the leader of European defense efforts,” said Liana Fix, senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. Each decision, she said, affirms Europe’s autonomy and “at times seems intended to remind Trump that America no longer dictates every scenario.”

The two leaders nevertheless agree on one key point: Europe must take on a greater share of its own defense.

“Years ago, Macron proposed the idea that Europe should become more independent from the United States,” Fix said. “Now, with the election of Donald Trump, the reaction of many Europeans was: maybe Macron was right.”

Their relationship oscillates between camaraderie and confrontation.

“I want to be able to get along with the world, but not with the French,” Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on November 10.

“The Chinese are spying on us, stealing our intellectual property,” Ingraham responded.

“Do you think the French are better?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“I’m not so sure,” Trump retorted, citing French tariffs.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the Trump-Macron relationship on Thursday.

“The relationship remains very strong,” she said during a White House press briefing. “President Trump speaks quite frequently with Emmanuel Macron. I think they have a good working relationship. But the president is also not shy about pointing out his disagreements with world leaders. And he has done so with respect to Mr. Macron.”

At the UN General Assembly in September, Macron phoned Trump from the sidewalk to complain that the president’s motorcade was causing a traffic jam.

“Guess what, I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you,” Macron said in a filmed moment.

The French Embassy in Washington joined the party on

FRANCE DECLARES UN RECOGNITION OF PALESTINIAN STATE A BLOW FOR HAMAS, NOT A GIFT

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

With Germany distracted by domestic politics and Britain outside the European Union, Macron seized the space to take the lead. It presents France not just as a nation but as Europe’s voice of determination, urging the continent to “think for itself” and invest in its own defense.

“Macron sees himself as the leader of Europe’s defense efforts,” Fix said. “He always wanted Europeans to buy less from the United States and invest more in their own defense industry.”

But this vision comes up against the limits of Europe. Fix noted that Germany is on track to overtake France in defense spending, which is expected to reach 162 billion euros by 2029 – levels that France “simply does not have the financial flexibility to match.” Even within the EU, she said, leadership is more collective than Macron sometimes portrays.

“It is a shared effort. Macron considers himself one among many, but the most important among many.”

Every confrontation, phone call or quip from French President Emmanuel Macron to President Donald Trump fuels a larger mission: to show that Europe can act like a power again. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

At home, his authority is severely tested. Fix said Macron’s “leadership ambition in Europe and with the United States is undermined by domestic instability”, highlighting his difficulties in forming a government and his party’s poor prospects in upcoming elections. This political weakness “inevitably weakens its position abroad.”

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Yet Macron remains one of the few European leaders willing to trade blows – and jokes – with Trump, in full view of the world.

“It’s a difficult line for all European leaders,” Fix said. “They have to charm Trump into meeting Europe’s security needs, even though the Trump administration is extremely unpopular at home. They have to swallow bitter pills.”

For Macron, this line between charm and defiance became the essence of leadership – and the stage on which he chose to stand.