"We do not take domestic American politics into account and we want that to be
reciprocated,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television.
"I say this to Donald Trump and the French president says it too: leave our
nation be.”
Trump had on Saturday posted two tweets referring to the "yellow vest”
anti-government protests that have swept France since mid-November and sparked
rioting in Paris.
"Very sad day and night in Paris. Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and
extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the
form of lower taxes?” he suggested.
Trump had earlier posted: "The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for
Paris. Protests and riots all over France.
"People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries
(that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment. Chanting
‘We Want Trump!’ Love France.”
The protests in France are not directly linked to the Paris climate agreement
which was signed in 2015 and has since been abandoned by Trump, to the dismay of
French President Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders.
Spurred by rising fuel prices — in part due to tax hikes aimed at helping France
shift to a lower-carbon economy — the "yellow vest” protests have grown into a
broad movement against Macron’s policies and governing style.
Earlier this week Trump retweeted one of several posts falsely claiming that
French protesters were chanting his name.
The videos that have been used to support this claim were in fact filmed at a
far-right protest in London earlier this year.
Other French politicians have also responded angrily to Trump’s latest tweets,
including a lawmaker from Macron’s party who dubbed the US leader "Donald the
Senile”.
"DON’T INSULT MY COUNTRY DOTARD,” Joachim Son-Forget posted, employing an
antiquated insult previously used against Trump by North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un.
Source: AFP