US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on French wine and champagne after Paris signalled it would decline his invitation to join the proposed “Board of Peace.”
Trump also publicly shared a private message he received from French President Emmanuel Macron, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two allies. Trump’s remarks came amid a growing spat with France, triggered by Paris mocking Washington’s justification for Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. The criticism followed comments by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Trump was concerned about potential future security threats in the Arctic.
What Trump said
“I’ll put a 200 per cent tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said, referring to Macron. The proposed “Board of Peace” was initially envisioned as an oversight body for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Gaza, though its charter does not limit its mandate to the Palestinian territory.
Trump later posted on Truth Social a private message from Macron, in which the French president said the two leaders were aligned on Iran and Syria but questioned Trump’s stance on Greenland. “I don’t understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron wrote, according to Trump’s post.
Macron also suggested a meeting with Trump and other G7 leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, offering to include Ukrainian, Danish, Syrian and Russian representatives. He further proposed hosting Trump for dinner on Thursday.
France declines, mocks US stance
The exchange followed a report by AFP quoting a source close to the French presidency saying France “does not intend to answer favourably” to Trump’s invitation. The source added that the board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza.”
France also publicly mocked the US position on Greenland. In a post on X, the official account of France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs ridiculed Bessent’s justification, likening it to causing deliberate harm to prevent hypothetical future threats.
“If there were a fire someday, firefighters would intervene—so better burn the house now,” the post read. It added similar analogies, including: “If a shark might attack someday, intervention would follow—so better eat the lifeguard now.”
Bessent had defended Trump’s focus on Greenland by citing long-term security risks in the Arctic. “Down the road, this fight for the Arctic is real… We would keep our NATO guarantees. And if there were an attack on Greenland from Russia or elsewhere, we would get dragged in,” he said.
France pushes back on tariff threat
Trump’s tariff threat drew a swift response from Paris. A source close to Macron told AFP that using tariffs to influence French foreign policy was “unacceptable” and “ineffective.” “Tariff threats to influence our foreign policy are unacceptable and ineffective,” the source said, responding to Trump’s remarks linking the tariffs to France’s stance on the “Board of Peace.”
Comments are closed.