U.S. President Donald Trump established a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 24th. The cessation of hostilities comes after Washington’s precision strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – a highly limited operation involving U.S. strategic bombers and submarines. At a time like this, Trump expects U.S. allies to step up and help. However, France has been so busy trying to set its own course that Paris often works at cross purposes with Washington.
Relations between the United States and France had been deteriorating,but are now on a clear downward spiral. While Trump appreciates the pomp and circumstance in Paris, there is significant divergence in interests between the two long standing allies. This is playing itself out in Europe, where a new security architecture is in the making. Trump wants America to reduce commitments and have the Europeans pick up the burden in Ukraine and for European security in general.
The clash is even more pronounced in the much more fragile Middle East. The domestic political imperatives of French President Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly complicated Trump’s efforts to force Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
In a June 17 social media post, President Trump had harsh words for his French counterpart. Trump referred to Macron as a “publicity-seeking” leader who gave an inaccurate reason for the American leader’s early departure from the G7 summit held in Alberta, Canada. Denying that he had to return to Washington to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, Trump went on to say that Macron “has no idea why” he was returning home and that it was for a much bigger purpose, not a ceasefire. Trump went on to conclude: “Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong.”
These remarks underscore a much bigger rift between the two countries rather than a momentary clash between two key Western leaders. France and America are not on the same page when it comes to the shift in the U.S. strategy for managing global affairs. France harbored Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who overthrew the Shah. The French enabled the Islamist regime’s takeover because they knew how anti-American it was. The US leadership under President Jimmy Carter failed to support the ailing Shah and allowed the strategic disaster to happen.
In Europe, Macron has been calling for strategic autonomy since 2017, which Trump sees as a way to continue to rely on the United States for security while sidelining American leadership. Traveling to the June 2025 G7 summit, Macron made a stopover in Greenland, not so subtly telegraphing that he opposes the American leader's efforts to acquire the semi-autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty. Addressing reporters alongside Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the French leader warned that the island nation was under the threat of "predatory ambition," adding that the situation should serve as a wake-up call for all Europeans.
There is no rush for the United States to settle matters related to European security, which means France’s moves do not pose an immediate challenge to the American strategy vis-a-vis the Continent. However, the situation in the Middle East since Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack has been increasingly volatile. Especially now, with the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear targets in support of Israel’s military offensive aimed at preventing Iran from crossing the nuclear Rubicon. In this context, Macron’s positioning is terribly unhelpful.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit, the French President openly opposed military action against Iran, warning that it could lead to regime collapse and chaos. Macron said: "....the biggest error would be to use military strikes to change the regime because it would then be chaos.” Such a stance is not only based on the false assumption that the U.S. is pursuing a strategy of regime change, but it also undermines U.S. efforts to force the Iranian regime to alter its behavior.
Macron then went on to criticize past U.S. actions in the Middle East saying: "Does anyone think that what was done in Iraq in 2003 was a good idea? Does anyone think that what was done in Libya the next decade was a good idea? No!" This is ironic coming from the leader of the country that, together with Italy, spearheaded the intervention to remove former Libyan dictator Col Muammar Qaddafi. While the U.S. move to effect regime change in Iraq and the intervention in Libya both proved disastrous, the Trump Administration is not seeking regime change in Iran.
Macron’s statements thus work against U.S. efforts to deal with a very complex and difficult situation. They also have had the effect of weakening the global consensus that Iran cannot be permitted to attain nuclear weapons, which provides space for the Iranian regime to exploit to its advantage.
Macron’s weakened political position at home is driving his aggressive stance towards the U.S. and his moves against Israel. Left-wing and centrist French voters have become more vocal in condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza and demanding that France take a tougher stance against the Jewish state. The situation feeds into the agenda of political Islamist elements in the country.
According to a new state-commissioned report, local affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood in France are engaged in a long-term campaign to subvert the nation’s secular fabric and institutions. The report recommended that the government take steps to counter a gradual proliferation of "political Islam", which threatens national cohesion. This prompted Macron to hold a meeting of senior members of his Cabinet in late May to find ways to address the problems. So the lame duck French president finds himself caught between the Right and Left on this issue while also trying to ensure that seeking to put domestic Islamist extremism in check will not alienate France’s Muslims, who comprise roughly 10% of the population.
Unfortunately, Macron’s solution to the challenges he faces across the political spectrum is to appear defiant of the United States and critical of Israel, a traditionally winning position in French politics. In this volatile era, this means France cannot be relied upon as a dependable ally in U.S. efforts to stabilize the Middle East. On the contrary, Paris is actively undermining both American interests and its two and a half centuries-old friendship with the U.S.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member