Trump uses French accent while recounting call he had with Macron

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump slipped into a French accent while recounting a blunt phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron during a White House roundtable on Friday, January 16.

Speaking as he celebrated what he described as a major rural health initiative under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump revisited a past exchange with Macron about d**g pricing disparities between the United States and Europe, theatrically impersonating the French leader as he retold the story.

Trump impersonates Macron while recounting phone call

Trump told the audience that he had warned Macron the discussion would not be pleasant, claiming he pressed the French leader to raise d**g prices in France to narrow the gap with US costs.

“I said, ‘Emmanuel, you’re not going to like this call. You’re going to have to get your d**g prices up,’” Trump said, before mimicking Macron’s response. “‘No, no, no, no, no, I will not do that!’”

The president portrayed the exchange as part of his broader effort to pressure foreign governments and pharmaceutical companies over what he has long argued are unfair pricing practices that leave Americans paying significantly more for prescription d***s.

Trump pressures Macron on French d**g prices

Trump’s comments echoed his May 2025 executive order launching a “most-favored-nation” d**g pricing policy, which aimed to ensure Americans did not pay more for medications than consumers in other developed countries.

At the time, the White House said Americans were paying nearly three times more for the same medicines, despite the US accounting for less than five percent of the world’s population while generating the majority of global pharmaceutical profits.

According to the administration, d**g-makers discounted prices abroad to secure access to foreign markets and offset those reductions by charging higher prices in the US.

Trump threatens tariffs during Macron discussion

Continuing his account, Trump said he warned Macron that refusal to cooperate would lead to steep trade penalties.

He claimed he told the French president that failure to raise prices would result in a 25 percent tariff on French goods, including wine and champagne, imported into the United States.

“I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’re paying 13 times more — not 13 percent — 13 times more than you are,’” Trump added, saying he cited figures he described as “crazy” to make his point.

Trump recalls Macron agreeing to d**g pricing changes

Trump went on to say that Macron eventually softened his stance, again slipping into an exaggerated accent as he described the alleged response.

“He said, ‘Donald, I would love to do this for you. It would be a great honor,’” Trump told the audience, adding that similar conversations followed with leaders of other countries.

Trump says he ‘likes’ Macron despite mocking him 

Despite the mocking tone, Trump insisted he holds Macron in high regard.

“I like him a lot,” Trump said. “He’s a nice man. I hope he’s listening, because he doesn’t believe that, but I do.”

Trump has previously shared similar anecdotes about his discussions with Macron, including remarks earlier this month at the Kennedy Center, where he again imitated the French leader while describing negotiations over prescription d**g prices.