Emmanuel Macron joined the chat after King Charles made a tongue-in-cheek comment aimed at Donald Trump during his visit to Washington this week.
The British monarch just completed a four-day state visit to the US alongside Queen Camilla during which he spent lots of time with the US President.
Both men appeared to get along extremely well, with the Republican president hailing Charles ‘the greatest King’ among other pleasantries. The trip has come to symbolise repairing UK-US relations after Trump criticised the British government for failing to join during the ongoing war with Iran.
And so, King Charles got a warm welcome from Trump, and one of the events on the agenda was a state dinner honouring the relationship between the US and UK, coinciding with 250 years of independence.
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In a speech at a White House state dinner this week, King Charles joked that if it were not for the UK, the US would be speaking French - and President Macron has now issued his own response.
“You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German,” Charles said. “Dare I say that if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French?”
In attendance were over 100 guests, such as the president's cabinet and the King's aides, as well as a number of famous faces such as golfer Rory McIlroy, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Both Trump and Charles gave speeches to the room, which included a number of jokes that earned a laugh from those attending.
Macron, who was not in attendance, posted a cheeky response on X which said: “That would be so chic.”
The King was thought to be referring to places with British and French origins in North America, where the rival colonial powers battled for control of the continent before US independence 250 years ago, as per France24.
Trump and Macron have had a strained relationship ever since the former reassumed office in 2025.
The US president has openly criticised other nations for deciding against steeping in and joining the war with Iran.
Trump posted about his frustration with Macron, and said: “We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway.”
He also referenced the viral video in which Macron’s wife Brigitte Macron appeared to shove him on a plane in Vietnam in 2025.
He said: “I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly... Still recovering from the right to the jaw.”
Topics: Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, King Charles III, News
Greg Harris