Macron warns US trade threats toward EU are far from over

French President Emmanuel Macron warned in an interview published Tuesday that trade "threats" and "intimidation" from the United States are not finished, despite what he characterized as a false sense of relief among European leaders.

Macron described a "cowardly relief" that emerged when European officials negotiated an agreement on tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump and the crisis appeared to ease. "When we came out of the peak of the crisis, when an agreement was negotiated for the tariffs, there was a kind of cowardly relief. But do not believe for a second that it has ended," he said.

Macron predicted continued pressure ahead. "Look at what will happen with tariffs on pharmaceutical products and everything that comes next. Every day, every week, there will be threats," the French president stated.

The French leader called on the European Union to treat recent turbulence in the transatlantic relationship as a wake-up call. He referenced what he termed the "Greenland moment"—an apparent reference to Trump's stated interest in acquiring Greenland—as an example of the kind of unexpected pressure Europe faces.

According to Macron, European Union leaders should pursue reforms to strengthen the bloc's economic capacity to withstand pressure from both Washington and Beijing. "When there is manifest aggression, we must not bend nor try to reach an agreement," Macron said, indicating that Europe should adopt a firmer stance in negotiations with the United States.