With the return of Trump, Macron has a card to play in Europe

The same, eight years later. In 2016, Donald Trump was inducted into the White House after a political twist. A few months later, Emmanuel Macron rose to the Elysée thanks to a campaign no less strategic than his American counterpart. The two men find themselves in 2024 respectively at the head of their country, but in a very different global context.

The French head of state took the initiative on Wednesday against Donald Trump, pleading for a “stronger” Europe. “Ready to work together as we have been able to do for four years. With your beliefs and with mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity,” he reacted on X, becoming the first leader of a large country to take note of the victory of the Republican billionaire.

Emmanuel Macron takes the lead

Later in the day, Emmanuel Macron was also among the very first heads of state and government to speak with the president-elect of the United States for a “very good 25-minute exchange” during which they expressed their “desire to work for the return of peace and stability” in the face of the “major ongoing international crises”, in Ukraine and the Middle East, according to the Elysée. Those around him insist on the “warm” nature of the interview, in the name of the relationship established in 2017, during the American’s first mandate.

Emmanuel Macron also took the initiative to speak immediately with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to jointly affirm the need for a “more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context”. “Macron has a very clear idea of ​​what a Trump 2.0 means for the European Union,” Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group think tank told AFP. “And in fact, we observed a very strong and rapid reaction on his part”, in order to set the tone for the “public message” of the Europeans, he adds.

Refocusing on Europe

The French president has been advocating European sovereignty for several years, a concept which gained ground with the Covid-19 pandemic and then the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In his speech at the Sorbonne University in April, he went so far as to warn that “Europe could die” without a start to ensure its security, which is very dependent on the United States.

Today, on the verge of a thunderous “comeback” by Donald Trump, potentially bringing an accelerated disengagement of Washington from the Old Continent and kyiv, Emmanuel Macron considers himself well placed to take European leadership .

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The French president “must tell himself that he will have a little card to play,” says one of his close friends. Weakened in France where his camp lost the last legislative elections, he can “regain legitimacy at the European level”, adds Mujtaba Rahman. His bet: that when faced with the wall, the EU reacts and takes “its destiny in hand”, as government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on Wednesday.

But it is not certain that Emmanuel Macron is the man for the job. His “charm offensive had failed” the last time and relations were finally strained in 2018, recalls François Heisbourg, of the Foundation for Strategic Research.