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Emmanuel Macron takes swipe at Donald Trump: 'Tweeting is not compatible with being President'

French leader discusses disagreements with US counterpart on Paris climate change accord and Iran nuclear treaty in new Time interview

Gregory Viscusi
Friday 10 November 2017 09:22 EST
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Emmanuel Macron with Donald Trump
Emmanuel Macron with Donald Trump (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Tweeting isn’t presidential, says France’s Emmanuel Macron.

“I don’t tweet myself, and I don’t follow myself,” Macron said in an interview with Time Magazine, released on Thursday. “It’s not compatible with the kind of distance you need to govern and to preside. To be President, you need some distance from events, from the permanent flows of news and reactions.”

That’s a difference between the 39-year-old French President and the 71-year-old US President Donald Trump, well known for using his Twitter account to expound on everything from politics to sports, several times a day.

“I have to confess I’ve heard of some news about Mr Trump’s Twitter account, but I don’t follow,” Macron said.

Macron’s office has a Twitter account, with about 15 posts in the past 24 hours, but almost all of them are links to photos and videos of his visit Thursday to the United Arab Emirates.

In the interview, Macron said he disagrees with Trump over the Paris climate accord and the Iranian nuclear treaty, but that they work closely on security and counter-terrorism. The relations between the two eldest allies is “much stronger and much more important than the current presidents on both sides,” he said.

Bloomberg

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