Macron Refutes Trump in his Address to Congress

Although French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to get along famously with Trump, he pulled no punches in his address to Congress on Wednesday April 25. Macron unflinchingly contradicted some of the central tenets of the Trump administration ranging from freedom and multilateralism to environmental protection and climate action.

Macron schooled the beleaguered American president on the meaning of leadership and many of the ways that the Trump administration has failed to live up to its historic responsibilities.

Macron spoke about the importance of freedom, education, and culture. He called on Americans to resist isolationism and nationalism. He also said there is no democracy without truth. “Against the threats on the planet [we have] science,” Macron said, adding “facing these challenges requires the opposite of deregulation.”

He spoke forcefully about the importance of environmental action and the need to combat climate change. Macron asked, “What is the meaning of our lives if we work and live and work while destroying our planet and sacrificing the future for our children?” He also said “By polluting the oceans, not mitigation CO2 emissions and destroying our biodiversity we are killing our planet. Let us face it there is no Planet B.” “Let us work together in order to make our planet great again and create new jobs and new opportunities while safeguarding our earth.”