French President Emmanuel Macron has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s handling of the ongoing conflict in Iran, urging him to adopt a more consistent and measured approach rather than engaging in daily theatrics.
Speaking to reporters during a state visit to South Korea, Macron emphasized the severe reality of the US-Israel war in Iran, which is now in its second month.
"This is not a show. We are talking about war and peace and the lives of men and women," Macron stated.
The French leader expressed frustration over Trump’s erratic messaging regarding the conflict. The US administration has repeatedly shifted its stance, alternating between claims that the war is already won, that a ceasefire is imminent, or that American forces will continue fighting.
"When you want to be serious you don't say every day the opposite of what you said the day before," Macron remarked, suggesting that the US president should "just let things quieten down" rather than making daily public declarations.
While France and its European allies have backed specific US maneuvers in the region, they have deliberately avoided being fully drawn into the expanding war. Macron made it clear that France bears no responsibility for a military campaign spearheaded independently by Washington and Jerusalem.
"They then lament that they are alone in an operation they decided on alone. It's not our operation," he noted.
The French president also took aim at Trump’s recent assertions that he might reconsider America's role in NATO. Macron stressed that international alliances are built on fundamental, unspoken trust. Continuously broadcasting doubts about honoring these agreements, he argued, completely undermines their value.
Macron further highlighted glaring contradictions in Trump’s narrative concerning Iran’s nuclear capabilities. He recalled that following US strikes in June 2025, Trump boasted that Tehran's nuclear infrastructure had been completely "obliterated." However, amid the renewed conflict in February 2026, Trump paradoxically labeled the current war as the "last best chance" to destroy Iran's nuclear program.
"I remind you that six months ago we were told that everything had been destroyed and all had been sorted out," Macron quipped.
He argued that securing the region requires international observers and strict frameworks to halt uranium enrichment, rather than isolated military strikes that fail to eliminate hidden laboratories or embedded technical expertise.
The diplomatic friction has recently escalated into personal territory. During a private lunch, Trump reportedly mocked Macron's French accent and made disparaging remarks about his marriage to Brigitte Macron, referencing a viral 2025 video of a physical altercation between the couple.
Macron swiftly brushed off the insults, calling them "neither elegant nor up to standard," and stated that the comments did not warrant a response. The personal attacks sparked outrage across the French political spectrum, with even staunch domestic critics of Macron—including hard-left figures—condemning Trump's behavior as unacceptable.
Finally, Macron addressed the escalating global crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded in retaliation for allied strikes. While Trump has insisted that nations reliant on the critical energy transit route should handle the blockade themselves, Macron dismissed the prospect of an allied military intervention to forcefully reopen the strait. He warned that such an operation is deeply "unrealistic" and fraught with danger, citing the formidable ballistic missile capabilities and coastal defenses of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.