Emmanuel Macron has suggested it would be “chic” if the US was a French-speaking country after a tongue-in-cheek comment King Charles aimed at Donald Trump during his visit to Washington.
In a speech at a White House state dinner, the British monarch had joked on Tuesday evening that if it were not for the UK, the US would be speaking French.
“You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German,” he said. “Dare I say that if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French?”
In a response on X, President Macron said: “That would be chic!”
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s historic tour to the US was widely seen as an opportunity for the UK to begin repairing a fractured relationship with the Trump administration, following several attacks on British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer over the UK’s refusal to engage in the US war on Iran.
Mr Macron has been another subject of Mr Trump’s fierce criticism ever since he reassumed the White House in January 2025. His latest jibe – however harmless it may seem to most – risks summoning yet another furious verbal tirade from his hot-tempered counterpart in the US.
The pair have suffered a fraught relationship, with the US president once accusing him of being “publicity-seeking” and saying he “always gets it wrong”.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump took things personal when he referenced a video in which Mr Macron’s wife, Brigitte Macron, shoved the French politician as they disembarked from a plane in Vietnam in 2025.
Expressing his frustration over the lack of support for the Iran war, he said: “We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway.
“I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly… Still recovering from the right to the jaw.”
Mr Macron slammed the remarks as “neither elegant nor up to standard”.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will cap their historic US tour with a final stop in Virginia on Thursday after a packed day in New York City.
On the final day of their trip, the royals will attend a party marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, meet members of indigenous communities and discuss climate change projects, according to US media.
The King will afterwards journey to Bermuda, his first visit as monarch to a British overseas territory.
On Wednesday, Charles and Camilla visited the 9/11 memorial in New York City, where they laid a bouquet of white flowers at the memorial pool.