Trump mocks Macron again over French fuel tax protests

PARIS: US President Donald Trump has taken another swipe on Twitter at his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron prompted by Macron’s woes over violent protests against fuel taxes.

“I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago,” Trump tweeted late on Tuesday.

“The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters,” said Trump, referring to a global deal on the environment drafted in Paris in late 2015.

Earlier this week, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe decided to suspend planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, marking the first major U-turn by Macron’s administration in 18 months in office.

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On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron considered declaring a state of emergency as he met security chiefs seeking a way out of nationwide protests after rioters turned central Paris into a battle zone and vandalized the Arc de Triomphe monument.

Riot police on Saturday were overwhelmed as protesters ran amok in Paris’ posh neighborhoods, torching dozens of cars, looting boutiques and smashing up luxury private homes and cafes in the worst disturbances the capital has seen since 1968.

The unrest poses the most formidable challenge yet to Macron’s presidency, with the escalating violence and depth of public anger against his economic reforms catching the 40-year-old leader off-guard and battling to regain control.

Arriving back from the G20 summit in Argentina, Macron rushed to the Arc de Triomphe, a revered monument and epicenter of Saturday’s clashes, where protesters had scrawled “Macron resign” and “The yellow vests will triumph”.