Trump: Macron's words on Palestinian state do not matter
The US president hit out at Mr Macron saying that although he was a 'good guy… it's not going to change anything'.
The French president pledged to formally acknowledge Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, prompting fury from Israel and allies including the US.
'What he says doesn't matter,' Mr Trump told reporters at the White House, ahead of boarding a flight to the UK to visit his golf courses.
'He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight.'
The president continued: 'Look, he's a different kind of a guy. He's okay. He's a team player, pretty much. But here's the good news: What he says doesn't matter. It's not going to change anything.'
Mr Macron had argued his move to recognise Palestinian statehood was the only path to ending the war in Gaza and bringing security to the Middle East.
However, Charlie Kushner, the recently-confirmed US ambassador to France, called the move a 'gift to Hamas and a blow to peace'.
Mr Kushner, whose son, Jared, is Mr Trump's son-in-law, continued: 'I'm deeply disappointed. [Mr Macron] – I hope to change your mind before September.
'Free the hostages,' he said, referring to the individuals taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct 7 massacre in Israel. 'Focus on a ceasefire. This is the path to lasting peace.'
Mr Macron was slated by hard-Right Dutch MP Geert Wilders. Sharing a map of France with the tip on the south east shaded in red, he said:
Here will be the new Palestinian State.
Big parts of France are already islamic anyway.
Good luck @EmmanuelMacron and France! Happy suicide!
The Netherlands will close its borders immediately. pic.twitter.com/zRUYxhUOj5
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 25, 2025
Sir Keir Starmer has come under pressure from the Scottish Labour leader to immediately recognise Palestine as a state.
Anas Sarwar made the demand shortly before the Prime Minister held emergency talks with his French and German counterparts about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He also claimed Mr Netanyahu had broken international law and accused him of having 'no interest' in a peaceful resolution to his country's war with Hamas.
Cabinet ministers and dozens of backbench Labour MPs also piled pressure on the Government to recognise the state of Palestine straight away.
Sir Keir's current position is that although the Palestinian people have an 'inalienable right' to their own state, this should only come as part of a wider peace process after a ceasefire in the region.
In a social media video on Friday afternoon, Mr Sarwar said: 'I have long supported the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine and continue to do so.
'But whilst pressing for that, we must see the end of the war right now. What we're seeing on our screens and in our social media feeds is intolerable, unjustifiable and heartbreaking. The mass starvation of a population, the innocent killing of innocent civilians and the destruction of infrastructure.
'That's why we need an immediate ceasefire, we need the free flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, we need to see the end of illegal occupation and the pathway to a two-state solution.'
He went on to call for the release of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages who are still being held in captivity by Hamas.
Going further in his criticisms of Mr Netanyahu than Sir Keir, Mr Sarwar added: 'Tragically, so many of us feel powerless when we look at the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli government.
'It's clear to me that Benjamin Netanyahu is in breach of international humanitarian law, that he has no interest in peace and he cares more about staying in power and out of jail than doing the right things by his citizens.'
Mr Sarwar's video was published just before Sir Keir held crisis talks with Mr Macron and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor.
In a statement on the eve of the talks, Sir Keir condemned the 'unspeakable and indefensible' suffering of Palestinians and called it a 'humanitarian catastrophe' amid warnings by the UN of famine and mass starvation.
'Humanitarian aid must be the priority'
Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, said on Friday that he 'desperately' wanted to see Palestine recognised as a state amid growing pressure from Sir Keir's own front bench for him to do so.
The Telegraph understands that Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is among Cabinet ministers who want the Prime Minister to pivot to a policy of immediate recognition.
According to the Guardian, Mr Streeting's view is shared by Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary.
Speaking on Thursday night, Ms Mahmood said that while British recognition of Palestine would have 'multiple benefits' and send a 'strong message' to Israel, the immediate priority must be delivering aid to Gaza.
Bloomberg later reported that Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, also wants to see Palestine recognised straight away.
The Government last month sanctioned two Israeli ministers over their comments about the war in Gaza in a significant break with Mrtw Trump and the US.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the hard-Right Israeli security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-nationalist finance minister, had their assets frozen and have been banned from entering the UK.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Keir Starmer to recall cabinet from summer break for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis
Sir Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis after coming under growing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state and amid mounting concern over humanitarian conditions in the region. Ministers, who are in a summer recess until September 1, are expected to reconvene this week to discuss the situation in the Middle East. It comes after peace talks came to a standstill last week after Washington and Israel recalled negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement. Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians. But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened. Sir Keir is meeting with US president Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday and is expected to raise the prospect of reviving ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas during the talks. The prime minister will travel to Ayrshire, where the US president is staying at his Turnberry golf resort, for wide-ranging discussions on trade and the Middle East as international alarm grows over starvation in Gaza. The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Mr Trump praising Sir Keir for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday. But humanitarian conditions in Gaza and uncertainty over US import taxes on key British goods in America threaten to complicate their bilateral meeting. In his talks with Mr Trump, Sir Keir will 'welcome the President's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza', Number 10 said. 'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.' The leaders will also talk 'one-on-one about advancing implementation of the landmark Economic Prosperity Deal so that Brits and Americans can benefit from boosted trade links between their two countries', it said. Speaking to Sky News on Monday, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds could not say whether the RAF would be directly involved in plans to airdrop aid into Gaza but warned that the delivery of aid 'cannot wait'. 'We know the only way to get sufficient quantities of aid into Gaza is for that blockade to end, for those vehicles to get on the ground. The point about the air drops is that we cannot wait. We've got to do something. It's an unconscionable situation. 'We can all see the lapse in humanity on display, and we've got to do things to do that.' He added: 'I don't know about the operational implementation, but on the air drops, as a country, we're always standing by.'
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Four dead in mass shooting at popular Bangkok food market
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
Telegraph
19 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Beijing keeps up rare earths pressure on Trump
China is restricting the export of critical minerals to the US as it seeks to maintain pressure on the White House ahead of trade talks this week. Despite Donald Trump striking a deal with Beijing to resume rare earths imports last month, new figures show that China has restored trade at a far slower pace than with Europe and the rest of Asia. China exported 3,188 tonnes of rare earth magnets worldwide in June, representing a 158pc jump from May. Of that total, 353 tonnes went to the US, an almost sevenfold increase from the previous month's low of 46 tonnes. But the average monthly shipment to the US in the first three months of this year was 622 tonnes, suggesting trade is barely back to half the typical level. The June tonnage was also still 52pc below the amount shipped to the US in the same month last year, representing the largest year-on-year decline of any of China's major magnet customers. Germany, the largest buyer, received 764 tonnes, up almost threefold from May and down just 25pc year-on-year. Poland, France, Hungary and South Korea also received large boosts to shipments, and had lower year-on-year declines than the US. 'While China's relationship with the US seems to be warming, Beijing will continue to keep a tight grip on critical mineral exports,' said Leah Fahy of Capital Economics. China dominates the production and processing of rare earths, and controls most of the world's supply of rare-earth magnets used in military weapons, renewable energy generation and electric vehicles. When Mr Trump threatened China with wide-ranging tariffs of up to 145pc earlier this year, Beijing responded by halting rare earths exports. This led to the President quickly caving in amid criticism from American manufacturers. He said on June 11 that he would slash tariffs to restore full access to rare earths. Meanwhile, Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday for two days of trade talks in Stockholm. Mr Bessent has described the two superpowers' trading relationship as 'in a good place', with reports emerging late on Sunday that they have agreed to extend their truce on tariffs by another 90 days. It had been expected to expire on August 12. Ahead of the talks, Mr Bessent has said he wants to address China's purchases of Russian and Iranian oil. Mr Trump has threatened 100pc tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. If this levy were imposed on China, by far the biggest buyer, it could reignite the trans-Pacific trade war, and risk jeopardising rare-earth trade once again. Ms Lahy said China's rare-earth powers might diminish over time. 'There's only so many times China can go back and forth, using it as a way to get things out of the US, without annoying the US even more,' she said. 'And even if China starts supplying as many rare earths as it did before, the genie is out of the bottle. The West knows that China can limit its exports of these goods whenever, so they're going to look to diversify their supply chains.' Mr Bessent also wants to confront Mr He in Stockholm about what he said was 'overcapacity' at Chinese factories. The US Treasury has criticised Beijing for lavishing subsidies on its manufacturing industry. By skewing the Chinese economy towards production and exports ahead of consumption, this helps fuel China's hefty trade surplus with the US – which Mr Trump loathes. Beijing is taking steps to address this.
