President Donald Trump took the stage on the World Financial Discussion board, keen to inform a well-recognized story: how his trademark threats bend a overseas chief to his will.
As an alternative, the episode ended with France publicly swatting down his claims, mocking him with considered one of his personal favourite phrases, and turning a supposed present of dominance right into a diplomatic embarrassment on the world stage.
Talking in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Trump once more claimed he pressured French President Emmanuel Macron to lift drug costs in France by threatening sweeping tariffs. The president framed the episode as validation of his strong-arm negotiating type, boasting that overseas leaders fold shortly as soon as confronted.
Trump informed a crowd of worldwide leaders that Europe was “not on target,” although he conceded it excelled at maintaining drugs reasonably priced. He contrasted drug costs abroad with these within the U.S., saying, “A capsule that prices $10 in London prices … $130 in New York or in Los Angeles.”
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Trump started recounting a non-public alternate with a European chief, describing a tense second the place resistance gave method to submission. He spoke with the informal certainty of somebody satisfied the story was settled truth — an instance, in his telling, of how shortly issues fall into place as soon as he applies strain.
“I mentioned, ‘Right here’s the story, Emmanuel, the reply is, you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it quick. And when you don’t, I’m placing a 25% tariff on the whole lot that you simply promote into the USA, and a 100% tariff in your wines and champagnes,” Trump mentioned.
He claimed the French president shortly gave in. “(And Macron mentioned) ‘No, no, Donald, I’ll do it, I’ll do it’. It took me on common three minutes a rustic, saying the identical factor, ‘You’ll do it’,” Trump mentioned.
Trump then veered right into a broader grievance concerning the energy of main pharmaceutical firms earlier than circling again to Macron, stressing that he holds no private animosity towards the French chief. “I like him. Onerous to consider, isn’t it?” he mentioned.
Critics on social media reminded Trump they hadn’t forgotten the monologue.
“We’ve heard it earlier than. He’s doing his best hits. It’s embarrassing,” one individual wrote on Threads.
“Trump is mocking Emmanuel Macron of France with a pretend story about forcing him to decrease drug costs,” one other mentioned.
Inside hours, France responded — and did so publicly and decisively
“It’s being claimed that President @Emmanuel Macron elevated the value of medicines,” the Elysee Palace wrote on X. “He doesn’t set their costs. They’re regulated by the social safety system and have, the truth is, remained secure. Anybody who has set foot in a French pharmacy is aware of this.”
However the humiliation deepened when viewers observed the submit was accompanied by a looping GIF of Trump at a microphone, the phrases “pretend information” emblazoned beneath his picture — giving Trump a style of his personal drugs.
On-line, the rebuttal ignited a flood of reactions mocking and ridiculing Trump’s model of occasions.
Whereas the laughing emojis had been considerable, one commenter on X dismissed his credibility outright, writing, “Loser trump can not even lie with out being caught.”
One other consumer framed the episode as a nationwide embarrassment, apologizing to abroad audiences for Trump’s absurd conduct.
“Please excuse our nation for this fool buffoon mendacity (once more). It’s completely embarrassing.”
Even critics of Macron pushed again on Trump’s declare, with one submit bluntly concluding, “I hate Macron however that is clearly bulls—t. Trump goes loopy.”
The episode was the most recent flare-up in an more and more strained relationship. Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs in opposition to European allies whereas attempting to bully NATO for U.S. management of Greenland, a technique that backfired at this week’s summit in Switzerland when Trump reversed course.
Macron has emerged as one of many extra forceful voices pushing again, urging the European Union to withstand intimidation and warning in opposition to giving in to strain.
He used his personal Davos speech to criticize what he described as bullying and disrespect for worldwide norms. “We do want respect to bullies. We do want science to politicism. And we want the rule of legislation to brutality,” he mentioned, with out naming Trump immediately.
The conflict unfolded as Trump continued selling his “most favored nation” coverage on drug pricing, an effort geared toward decreasing U.S. prices whereas pushing different nations to pay extra. He pointed to offers with 17 pharmaceutical firms and claimed a current government order might minimize costs by as a lot as 90%. But current knowledge suggests costs have continued to rise, with a January report discovering that most of the similar firms elevated costs in early 2026.
Well being coverage consultants say the disparity between U.S. and European drug costs stems from structural variations, not overseas manipulation. Within the U.S., firms negotiate with a number of personal insurers, giving them leverage to lift costs, whereas nations like France depend on centralized regulation.
