Politics
Macron Calls Trump For Help After Being Pulled Over By NYPD
Emmanuel Macron had just landed in New York for a meeting of the United Nations when his visit got off to a tumultuous start.
The French president arrived for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, where attendees readied to hear from President Donald Trump and members of his administration. But before he could make it, Macron was paid a visit by New York City’s finest when his motorcade bypassed a road closure intended to protect Trump.
Video of the surreal encounter shows Macron clasping his phone as he’s shuffled behind a pedestrian gate. Speaking with reporters later, the dignitary admitted that he had called President Trump to help him out of the sticky situation.
A hapless officer is seen apologizing to Macron as he asks to cross the street.
“I’m sorry president, it’s just that everything is frozen right now, there’s a motorcade coming right this way,” he said to which Macron replies, “I don’t see it!” The cop points to his ear as he asks Macron to listen for the arrival of the Beast, Trump’s bulletproof limousine.
In the next shot, Macron holds his phone to his ear as he tries to get the attention of Trump while the president and his motorcade drive past.
“Hello!” he says after reaching Trump.
“Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is closed for you.”
Like any good New Yorker, Macron makes his way down the sidewalk to find another point of entry as he stays on the phone with Trump, and a phalanx of aides and cameramen stay in tow.
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The mix-up had internet users gleefully joking about Macron’s humble New York minute.
“That’s not just a mix-up — that’s a power signal. When world leaders get parked so Trump can pass, it tells you everything about who commands respect in the room,” one user wrote.
Another stated, “Macron learns who runs things in America, even off duty.”
“Humiliating. The French president stuck on the curb while Trump’s motorcade rolls like a king’s parade’, a third commented, while a fourth said: ‘This is not an “awkward moment”. This is a protocol breach and a serious insult.”
The awkward moment is more than a little embarrassing for Macron, who hit a new low in polling back home where just 17% of French voters approve of his job performance, the Daily Mail reported.
Austerity measures aimed at bolstering the government’s budget have prompted millions of French citizens to take to the streets in nationwide protests, according to the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.
The 80th General Assembly kicked off with President Trump admonishing members for funding the phones and travel of migrants who illegally entered the U.S. in recent years, setting the opening day’s theme.
“The UN is supposed to stop invasions, not create them and not finance them… In the United States, we reject the idea that mass numbers of people from foreign lands can be permitted to travel halfway around the world, trample our borders, violate our sovereignty, cause unmitigated crime, and deplete our social safety nets. We have reasserted that America belongs to the American people,” Trump asserted.
