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During a private lunch on Wednesday, President Donald Trump teased the French president and his wife, criticizing NATO allies for their lack of involvement in the Iran conflict sweeping through the Middle East.
“I didn’t need them, but I called anyway,” Trump said in a video briefly shared on the White House’s YouTube channel before being taken down.
He added, “I called Macron—whose wife treats him terribly, still recovering from the punch he took,” referencing a 2025 news clip that seemed to show Brigitte Macron shoving Macron’s face during a trip to Vietnam, an incident Macron dismissed as misinformation.
“Then I said, ‘Emmanuel, we could really use some help in the Gulf. We’re breaking records eliminating bad actors and intercepting ballistic missiles. Could you send some ships immediately?'” Trump recounted.
He then mimicked Macron’s supposed reply in a French accent: “‘No, no, no, Donald. We can do that after we win the war.'”
“I told him, ‘No, Emmanuel—I don’t need help after the war,’” Trump said.
He expressed skepticism about NATO’s reliability in a major conflict, warning, “I learned that NATO might not be there if the big one happens—by the big one, I mean a major war.” Without elaborating, he also called NATO a “paper tiger,” continuing a series of criticisms from his administration against the alliance since his return to office last year.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned that the U.S. might reconsider its NATO relationship after the Iran conflict ends.
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