After joking with the leaders of Italy and Spain, US President Donald Trump did not spare joking comments about his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at yesterday's summit in Egypt, writes BFM TV, reported BTA.
When Trump expressed gratitude to all the leaders who played a role in reaching the agreement to end the war in Gaza, a number of leaders stood behind him. But Macron chose not to be among them. Then Trump joked with the words: “I can't believe you're preferring to bow down today“. At which everyone else laughed. Trump, however, clarified that he and Macron are friends.
According to people in Macron's entourage, however, the French president did not want to stand behind a foreign leader while he spoke, as the French did not expect him to stand behind a foreign leader. For this reason, Macron did not join British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and several other leaders who stood behind Trump while he spoke.
A number of other leaders, however, preferred to remain seated in front of the American. Among them were the Turkish and Palestinian presidents and the Bahraini and Jordanian kings. Trump also joked about these “seated leaders”, stating: “I don't know why those behind me chose to stand behind me, but the fact is, they are there. And tomorrow they will be famous“.
At one point yesterday, however, Macron and Trump showed that there is a friendly relationship between them by shaking hands vigorously. This vigorous handshake, which is more in the style of Canadian wrestling than a typical handshake, is a “trademark” for their bilateral meetings, the media outlet notes.