A jab from 33,000 feet cools Trump-Macron ties, but is it just a passing frost?

PARIS (AP) – What began with a handshake evolved into turbulence at 33,000 feet as one of diplomacy’s oddest relationships took another strange turn.

The political chemistry that once defined the Trump-Macron dynamic – immortalized by a famously tense 29-second handshake in 2017 – was nowhere to be seen in midair Tuesday when U.S. President Donald Trump blasted his French counterpart on social media.

As Trump departed the G7 summit early, French President Emmanuel Macron tried to reframe the exit as strategic.

“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange,” Macron told reporters, suggesting the U.S. might help broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

But aboard Air Force One, Trump responded with a swipe that accused Macron of showboating.

“Wrong! He is ‘publicity seeking’ and always gets it wrong,” Trump said. “He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington… Much bigger than that. Stay tuned!”

The takedown punctured Macron’s narrative and revealed a rupture in a relationship that has featured theater, flattery and touch.

Macron, who once styled himself as a “Trump whisperer,” has long used charm and proximity to try to manage the unpredictable U.S. leader, often contrasting himself with more openly critical peers like Germany’s Angela Merkel. But those efforts are far from foolproof.

The Élysée Palace made no formal comment on Trump’s outburst.

Their diplomatic style has never been purely transactional – and has often been tactile. From their earliest encounters, physical gestures have been part of the pageantry: Trump’s firm pats and arm-yanks, Macron’s theatrical poise and instinctive touches.

The roots of their rapport run deep. In 2017, Macron dazzled Trump with a Bastille Day parade, formal dinners and white-knuckle handshakes. A viral 29-second grip – knuckles white, jaws clenched – set the tone for a relationship of theatrical dominance.

The physical choreography evolved over the years: Trump yanking Macron’s arm at the Élysée, Macron placing a steadying hand on Trump’s thigh in Washington. Their February 2025 White House meeting brought a refined version of the dance as Macron delivered corrections with charm, countering Trump’s Ukraine comments while laughing at Fort Knox jokes.

Trump joked about Macron’s marriage last month after a video of Brigitte Macron playfully pushing her husband surfaced. “Make sure the door remains closed,” he quipped, before adding: “They’re fine.”

But the chill had already begun to set in.

This month, Macron traveled to Greenland – a territory Trump has floated buying – to express solidarity with Danish sovereignty.

“This is not what is done between allies,” he said, in what many interpreted as a veiled swipe at the U.S.

The G7 summit, intended to project Western unity on Russia and Iran, instead showcased fracture. Trump skipped the final sessions, refused to back new Russia sanctions, and warned Tehran to “immediately evacuate.”

Macron tried to frame the early exit as useful. Trump’s one-line rebuttal shut that down.

But later in the flight, Trump softened his tone. When reporters asked about the outburst, he replied: “That was Emmanuel – nice guy but he doesn’t get it right too often.”

The pivot was familiar.

“It’s difficult to be confident about any clear arc in President Trump’s reactions to people or events,” said Dana Allin, U.S. policy expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “He tends to be disinhibited – he says what’s on his mind, and that can change quickly.”

There was no handshake this time. No shoulder clap. Just a flick of the thumb – and a public slap across the alliance.

The dynamic, Allin suggests, reflects a shift in how Europe engages with Washington. In Trump’s first term, many European leaders treated his behavior as a storm they could wait out.

“Now it seems like a more permanent thing,” Allin said.