“The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%,” wrote Mr. Trump, whose approval rating in France is 9 percent.
WASHINGTON — President Trump issued a blistering personal attack on Tuesday against President Emmanuel Macron of France, his host last weekend, and sought to douse a furor over his decision not to visit a cemetery of American soldiers while in France because of rain.
Two days after returning from Paris, Mr. Trump responded via Twitter to Mr. Macron’s denunciation of nationalism by accusing the French president of what he himself is often accused of — trying to change the subject.
“The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%,” wrote Mr. Trump, whose own approval rating in France is 9 percent. “He was just trying to get onto another subject. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!”
In a variation of his own campaign slogan, Mr. Trump added: “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”
Mr. Trump, who traveled to France for ceremonies hosted by Mr. Macron marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, also defended himself against critics who assailed his decision to cancel a trip on Saturday to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery at the foot of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood was fought. Aides at the time cited the rainy weather, suggesting it was too problematic to fly in his Marine One helicopter.
Critics have been scathing, noting that the soldiers who fought at Belleau Wood faced far worse than rain and questioning why the president did not go by road instead. Other leaders in Paris for the anniversary still managed to visit cemeteries despite the weather. The grandson of Winston Churchill called Mr. Trump ”pathetic” and the drumbeat of mockery has only continued in the days since the event.
Mr. Trump the next day did follow through with another scheduled visit to the Suresnes American Cemetery just outside Paris, where he spoke in the rain and complained lightheartedly about being drenched.
“By the way, when the helicopter couldn’t fly to the first cemetery in France because of almost zero visibility, I suggested driving,” he wrote on Tuesday . “Secret Service said NO, too far from airport & big Paris shutdown. Speech next day at American Cemetary in pouring rain! Little reported-Fake News!”
The attack on Mr. Macron underscored the tension that has grown in their relationship. While Mr. Macron at first tried to forge a friendship with Mr. Trump, the two have since fallen out over a variety of issues, including security, trade and Iran. Their meeting in Paris on Saturday was frosty and Mr. Macron’s speech at the anniversary ceremony on Sunday was widely perceived as an implicit rebuke of Mr. Trump’s “America First” approach to international affairs, although he never mentioned the American president by name.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Mr. Macron said as Mr. Trump sat nearby grim faced. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying: ‘Our interest first. Who cares about the others?’”
Mr. Trump, who during the fall campaign described himself as a nationalist, said nothing in response that day and began to push back on Monday more generally by renewing his longstanding complaints about Europe supposedly taking advantage of the United States on economics and defense.
But he went directly at Mr. Macron with guns blazing on Tuesday, citing the French leader’s domestic difficulties and poll numbers. Mr. Trump turned back to a garbled version of an interview Mr. Macron gave last week suggesting that Europe needed to build a “true European army” to defend itself.
“Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U. S., China and Russia,” Mr. Trump wrote on Tuesday . “But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U. S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
In his tweet, Mr. Trump chose to use a distorted version of what Mr. Macron said in the interview, even though the French president explained over the weekend what he actually said. Mr. Macron had told the interviewer that Europe needed to defend itself against cyberattacks that originate in a variety of places, including Russia, China and even the United States. Only later in the interview did he suggest building a European army.
Initial English-language accounts of the French-language interview translated it to make it seem as if Mr. Macron was saying that a European army was needed to defend against the United States. In fact, he said Europe needed to take up its own security burden instead of relying so much on the United States, which is an argument that Mr. Trump has made repeatedly.
In pushing back against Mr. Macron on Tuesday, Mr. Trump extended his complaints to French wine. “On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U. S.,” he wrote . “The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U. S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U. S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!”
Mr. Macron’s office declined to comment on Tuesday, the Agence France-Presse reported.
The attack on Mr. Macron came on the third anniversary of a string of devastating terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and more than 600 wounded, timing that was perceived as insensitive.
“We are already great, especially on November 13th,” wrote Hugo Clément, a journalist for the website Konbini News. “Go back to your room and give the phone to an adult.”
It was not the first time that Mr. Trump had offended France with remarks on the Nov. 13 attacks, which were carried out by a team of Islamic State gunmen at the Bataclan concert hall, in cafes and bars in Paris, and at a soccer stadium in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis.
In 2015, before he became president, Mr. Trump was criticized for suggesting that the attacks would have turned out differently if Paris had looser gun regulations. In 2017,Mr. Trump was directly rebuked by François Hollande, then president of France, for his assertion that a friend named “Jim” had stopped going to Paris because “Paris is no longer Paris.”
Some in France reacted humorously to Mr. Trump’s latest attack, joking that France had won the soccer World Cup last summer and was therefore already great, or quipping about the superior quality of French versus American wine. Others sought to correct his remarks.
For Mr. Trump, a feud with France plays to a domestic audience, while his cancellation of the cemetery visit has made him a subject of ridicule.
