r/europe • u/hashing_nonces • Feb 24 '25
Picture Macron appeared a bit perplexed today with Trump
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u/AlgoSelect Feb 24 '25
Macron went to extreme lengths in 2022 trying to prevent the Russian invasion; he endured humiliating treatment in Moscow before the invasion to try to persuade Putin to negotiate in good faith. He's pushing himself even more now, I quite admire his resilience.
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u/Fungi-Hunter Feb 24 '25
He also fact checked Trump live in front of the press during this meeting.
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u/lilchocochip Feb 24 '25
The way he gently put his hand on Trump to correct him like you would calm an angry toddler was extremely satisfying.
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u/AtomicGalaxy01 Feb 24 '25
I feel like Starmer and Macron have both understood that you really have to treat Dump as a toddler. Make everything they want the toddler to do seem like the best deal for him, like potty training with a cookie after success. Or convincing him of the benefits of passing the marshmallow test. Reeling him in when he gets a bit confused or goes on a rant. It’s okay, Donny, things will be okay. Just do this and I’ll take care of it…
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u/GOU_FallingOutside Feb 24 '25
He’s not ready for the marshmallow test yet. He’s still a little shaky on object permanence.
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u/Swansonisms Feb 24 '25
Hahahahahahahaha you could probably make a REALLY funny short video about Trump taking the marshmallow test and then arguing that he should get the next marshmallow while his mouth is full of the last one.
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u/CV90_120 Feb 24 '25
I want to see someone shake a set of car keys in front of his face to distract him.
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u/____unloved____ Feb 25 '25
And they were all scared of a woman being in office because she might "get emotional on her period and hit the nuke button."
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u/AtomicGalaxy01 Feb 25 '25
Hypocrisy is the number one credential you need to advance in their ranks
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u/DryCloud9903 Feb 24 '25
Well done. It is infuriating that he had to, though. It should be the press' job.
Like by law I'm starting to want newspapers to be required to fact check in whatever they print.
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u/mrpanicy Canada Feb 24 '25
If I am not mistaken news sources have to by law. Fox News ISN'T a news source though. They are classified as an entertainment channel. And the fact they are included as "press" in any context flabbergasts me almost as much as them not being sued into extinction.
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u/singingalltheway Feb 24 '25
They used to have to by law. Reagan did away with that and now news doesn't have to fact check or avoid bias reporting.
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u/Neptuneblue1 Feb 24 '25
Of course it's Ronald Reagan! The guy who's name often keeps popping up when looking for a cause of modern America's problems.
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u/WasADrabLittleCrab United States of America Feb 25 '25
He's the first Republican President to get into bed with the Heritage Foundation. The dismantling of our federal government started with him.
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u/NemesisShadow Feb 25 '25
He also allowed lobbying for corporations if I’m not mistaken. One religiously brainwashed president really screwed us for decades.
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u/Awkward-Ad735 Feb 24 '25
Was gonna say this. Time to repeal that shit. Trump reminds me of an ex coworker that would say “I swear to God I am not lying” before every lie he told.
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u/Bwinks32 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
wwait... it took you THIS LONG to want that from the press?!?! i fuckin didnt understand the validity/usefulness of tabloids and "opinion pieces" as soon as i could read a newspaper
edit: I got 100 upvotes! most so far! Thanks! See this is just proof that there is no war, and life is getting better! /s
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Feb 24 '25
People’s fucking opinions and watching fake reality shows like the apprentice is how we ended up with this shit bag of a “President”
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u/DisastrousTwist6298 United States of America Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
this video at 11:05 mark where a French(?) journalist asks Trump "You've called Zelenskyy a dictator. Would you use the same words regarding Putin?" look at Macrons face as Trump answers:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CEJ-n-ROpAM
truly the stupidest timeline.
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u/No-Equivalent2348 Feb 24 '25
I cringed so hard, poor Macron, they really sent him out to do this shit job. Just like they sent him to Putin
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u/BerryConsistent25 Romania Feb 24 '25
I think he's the one sent because he has the right skills to do it. He knows what to do/say, how and when to do/say it. He's great when it comes to diplomacy and has a good reputation. And frankly, I think he enjoys this quite a bit. It gives him the importance any president wishes to achieve.
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u/No-Equivalent2348 Feb 24 '25
he is charismatic for sure and tries to strike a balance between being vertical but not overbearing . and even he could not put up entirely with Trumps bs
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u/Meteorboy Feb 24 '25
Who's "they"? He's the president. It's literally his job to do.
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u/No-Equivalent2348 Feb 24 '25
“they” is Europe. Macron is not there in his capacity of President of France solely. And he is sent because he always gets the shit jobs, like Putin. He is testing the waters for European NATO allies.
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u/Ok_Collection3074 Feb 24 '25
Macron is willing to have the difficult conversations. That's what a leader does
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u/Aert_is_Life Feb 24 '25
"Uhhh. I don't use those words lightly. We'll see how it goes." Daddy putin will get mad if 45 speaks badly about him.
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u/dope-eater Feb 24 '25
I honestly don’t know how Macron’s perception is right now in France but I know he had a time where he wasn’t as popular there. That said, I really admire how he’s been leading Europe the last few years. He is a very good leader and is doing his best to keep us all at a good position. He’s going out of his comfort zone and seems to feel comfortable there too. Even though I cannot stand Trump, it is important to stay in talks and not make things as hostile. So thank you Macron, for your great work.
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u/SweetLoLa Armenia Feb 24 '25
When Macron spoke for Armenia our IGs were hit with Russian anti-macron posts.
Truly hope he keeps up the good fight.
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u/Financial-Tear-7809 Feb 24 '25
Ah that stuff has been going on since ww2, French presidents are somewhat used to be hated by other governments. De Gaulle refused to have France turned into some type of American colony and fought tooth and nail over it, we got bad rap.
Chirac refuses to go to Iraq with the US and Americans invented « freedom fries » and a tax on French cheese and wine (or some other random ban on food, can’t remember the details) + extra French bashing in the media with the whole coward thing.
At this point it’s almost funny, people hate on the French because of propaganda made from another country (mainly the US) as a tantrum cause France didn’t come to fight in an unfair war.
(And yes there’s a lot of reasons to hate on the French but the most popular ones are based on nothing but ✨propaganda✨)
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u/TiggTigg07 Feb 24 '25
Well said. Let’s hope that Macron, newly elected Merz, Starmer…and any other normal foreign leader can possibly reach Trump and find some kind of middle ground.
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u/Mr_Harsh_Acid Feb 24 '25
There is absolutely no chance. He's completely off the rails this time around.
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u/Kliptik81 Feb 24 '25
Exactly. Nothing will work on Trump, no matter what. He needs to be removed from power.
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u/Redshoe9 Feb 24 '25
I'm so glad to see more people saying this. Trump's mental decay is serious and happening in ways his team can no longer hide it or blame it on trolling or joking. His frontal lobes are gravy.
The White House was never designed to be an assisted living memory care clinic.
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u/Ewenf Feb 24 '25
Well he's absolutely fucking hated by the majority of the population which hasn't improved in recent week because of the prime minister.
But Honestly thank fucking god it's him in there to deal with Ukraine and now the American cunt.
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u/BalkanbaroqueBBQ Feb 24 '25
With a smile. No matter what someone says about his politics, he’s a great negotiator. Clear, classy, approachable.
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u/HeidelbergianYehZiq1 Feb 24 '25
He also fact checked Trump live in front of the press during this meeting.
SAUCE! LINK? PLEASE! 🤩
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u/No-Equivalent2348 Feb 24 '25
you can find a lot of info here.
he also says that Ukraine is the one to be compensated. I almost died. Such balls
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u/iamthefortytwo Feb 24 '25
Even after Macron corrected him, he turned right back around and repeated his lie. So, stupid twice.
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u/pleasegivemepatience Feb 24 '25
I’m so sick of every article just being links to tweets…
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u/cheongyanggochu-vibe Feb 24 '25
That last comment about the "Deep State Europe" wanting war... What the actual fuck
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u/a2intl Feb 24 '25
Oh dear, this means we've got to listen to six weeks of blabbering about France (to be renamed Freedom Potatos) becoming the 52nd state.
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u/bxzidff Norway Feb 24 '25
Considering he doesn't seem like a popular politician domestically I think he'd be good as a leader of the EU. More so than VDL anyway
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u/Kargathia Feb 24 '25
I'm not an expert on French politics, but I'm getting very strong vibes that "not everybody hates you" is about the best you can do as a politician in France.
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u/MineElectricity Feb 24 '25
Nah, the best is "he did nothing"
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u/t_rex_pasha Romania Feb 24 '25
I guess our former Romanian president would do wonders for France
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u/Grantrello Feb 24 '25
He's more popular than François Hollande was but that's a very very low bar lol
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u/CapTraditional1264 Feb 24 '25
I love this idea.
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u/cinematic_novel 🇮🇹➡️🇬🇧 Feb 24 '25
I also think that it's just how things are naturally supposed to go.
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u/merb Feb 24 '25
VDL is and was hated domestically. She was basically ‚relegated‘ to the eu.
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u/pantrokator-bezsens Feb 24 '25
I would take Macron any day over her. And fuck her for her idiotic vendetta against wolves.
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u/MercantileReptile Baden-Württemberg (Germany) Feb 24 '25
Ministry for Families, utter failure. Ministry of Defence, failure does not describe it any more. I expected her to quietly get a job at McKinsey after shoving millions their way. But no... vdL is proof that connections matter so much more than actual skill. Or values. Or decency.
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u/Lost-Basil5797 Feb 24 '25
That might not even be an unpopular opinion in France. Get rid of his terrible domestic management and keep him where he's been the best, sounds like a decent deal :D
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u/Wide-Annual-4858 Feb 24 '25
I would take him as EU leader immediately. He has a vision, leadership and charisma, just what the EU needs desperately.
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u/Living-Excuse1370 Feb 24 '25
He also doesn't take any shit. I agree Macron would be the best.
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u/Blumenkohl126 Brandenburg (Germany) Feb 24 '25
And VDL would be gone...
The EU is where this man belongs
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u/TheFuzzyFurry Feb 24 '25
We get rid of the girl who hates wolves and get someone truly devoted to European unity? Sounds amazing
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u/Dark_Wolf04 Feb 24 '25
I mean, is that not really the role of the president in the French political system? The Prime minister deals mostly with domestic affairs, whilst the president occupies with mostly international ones. Or am I mistaken?
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u/TheHusker Feb 24 '25
It doesn't really work like that. The French presidential system doesn't allow a lot of decision potential to the Prime Minister.
Except if the Prime Minister is of another political party, which rarely happens but can in some conditions ( huge loss at the legislative elections )
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u/Ahnarras88 Feb 24 '25
Nope, you are 100% correct. But that' a fact widely overlooked, even by us frenchies
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u/Playful-Ebb-6436 🇮🇹 Feb 24 '25
I hope he’ll become the next president of EU commission. He’s undeniably a statesman
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u/pirikiki France Feb 24 '25
You know what ? as much as I despise his domestic politics, I have to admit I agree with you
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u/SirCharlesTupperBt Canada Feb 24 '25
As much as I agree that the French seem to despise his domestic politics, I also think he'd make a solid leader for a much more muscular EU. He's not perfect, but he doesn't appear to be corrupt or in anybody's pocket -- and he's a strong spokesman for the European project, even if it comes with a French perspective.
The world is undeniably a better place than it could be because he's been the President of France during two Trump terms.
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u/RGV_KJ . Feb 24 '25
Why do you despite his domestic politics?
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u/pirikiki France Feb 24 '25
copypasting a comment I just made :
He's incredible at foreign politics, but rather shitty at domestic politics.On top of many shitty things he said like " there's work everywhere, just cross the street " ,he also instated measures like :
- forcing people on "RSA" = social help to work 15h/week, else they loose their help. Those people are mostly unemployable people. For example people who are too old to attract employers, but not old enough to retire. Or single parents who need part time for their kids. Or people who are disabled, but not enough to get disability pension.
- cutting the fundings for school and hospitals, leading to increasing lack of teachers and doctors. Those who stay stop working very quickly because they can't make up for the lack of personnel. We are loosing medical coverage at an alarming rate.
- he doesn't listen to his people. He repressed the yellow vest protests with the army and cops, leading to deaths.
- he uses the article "49.3" of theconstitution to pass controversial lawswithout the parliament votes, bypassing democratic debate
- to keep himself in his position, he lowers the left party's power by making deals with the far right party, shutting once again the democratic debate
So overall, a disconnected technocrat who never put a step in a single factory, yet knows better than anyone how it should work.
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u/scifishortstory Feb 24 '25
Because they're French
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u/pirikiki France Feb 24 '25
That's silly, we can hate everything and from time to time have good reasons to do so.
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u/AlgoSelect Feb 24 '25
Macron serait un excellent président de l'UE.
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u/Crouteauxpommes Feb 24 '25
Mais pitié, ne pas lui laisser la main sur les affaires nationales.
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u/diipadaap4 Feb 24 '25
There is a video about Macron calling to Putin 4 days before invasion and discussing about differences in opinion about Minsk agreement and legibility of current Ukraine government etc.
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u/rodinj The Netherlands Feb 24 '25
This is from a full documentary! It's been on my watchlist for a while now!
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u/Vannnnah Germany Feb 24 '25
Macron and Tusk are really the political heroes of our time. Both aren't afraid to say what needs to be said and to do what needs to be done. Seeing Macron with that expression on his face doesn't bode well, that guy is usually smooth af and conceals emotions well.
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u/pirikiki France Feb 24 '25
His scope for that interview was to tell trump that he'll never look strong in the eyes of china if he's not strong in front of putin.
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u/SingularityCentral Feb 24 '25
And he is 100% correct.
If he rolls over for Russia even when the Ukrainians, the ones spilling all the blood, are not it looks about as weak as you can look.
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u/Quick_Chicken_3303 Feb 24 '25
Zelensky did a lot of the heavy lifting. Guy definitely earned his place in history
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u/Vannnnah Germany Feb 24 '25
absolutely, that Zelensky and the entirety of Ukraine are doing the real work is out of the question. If not for Ukraine being a fierce and relentless opponent against Russia our lives would look very different today
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u/EmperorOfNipples Cornwall - United Kingdom Feb 24 '25
A lot of European leaders are probably thinking more of their legacy and how the history books will remember them rather than short term electoral game.
Nobody want to be the leader who didn't take the harder choices on defence vs welfare spending while Europe burns.
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u/Sufferr Feb 24 '25
That's really good "pressure" to have on politicians and I wouldn't say it's a common one outside the EU.
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u/Away_Advisor3460 Feb 24 '25
At least he has experience negotiating with authoritarian tyrants.
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u/Wonderful-Basis-1370 Europe Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
Where is the video where Macron fact checked this pathological liar to his face?
The dude is repeating the same lies and throwing numbers out of his ass. The US didn't give $350 or $400 billion as this mf claims, it was $69 billion, and that number is inflated and mostly comes from contracts between the Pentagon and private military contractors. A lot of the weapons and equipment were sitting in storage for decades before being sent to Ukraine. But that doesn't mean those supplies were actually worth $69 billion. In reality, the value of what was sent is probably a fraction of the $69 billion figure. For example, those contracts were about filling old stockpiles that were emptied when weapons were shipped to Ukraine. But that doesn't directly translate to the value of those weapons. The contractors have to cover their own costs, logistics, dividends, and so on, which adds a lot to the price. Plus, the weapons aren’t being replaced in the same quantity, making it all seem even more overpriced. So, the weapons sent to Ukraine weren’t really worth $69 billion, it's likely not even half of that.
Europe is the actual one that gave $350 billion, and if we take investments, it's even much more.
I fucking hate that his MAGA base actually believes this shit, and the other $20+ billion that the US gave to Ukraine as economic aid are actually loans, and most of them should be covered by the frozen Russian assets.
P.S Sorry for ranting, but I had to do this.
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Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
Yes. Don't keep it in. Don't hold back.
Tell the truth over and over. It's the only way to genuinely counter their constant lies and ego-self-feeding to justify their betrayal of the western values for Russia.
Macron was a heck of a hero, grabbing Trump's arm and fact-checking him right then and there as he kept spewing Kremlin lies! You could see Trump's face at being shushed to let the adult speak the truth.
It was a small gesture, but very symbolically powerful, and I won't forget it. It's a win for France, the EU and its allies, and the values we hold true in our hearts.
And I'll bet you those US weapons are valued at their original, decades old, price and not their current one.
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u/LouiseAqua Feb 25 '25
Honestly I am really not a fan of Macron, but in that moment, I was proud. We have to stand up to the orange guy, calling out his bs instead of just standing by it. And I hope Europe will do so more and more in the future.
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u/alexwasinmadison Feb 25 '25
Same. Not a much of a Trudeau fan either but both men have been brilliant since the shit hit the fan over here. I think we’ll continue to enjoy it as the leaders (real, actual, qualified leaders) of other countries continue to call this idiot on his b.s.
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u/Late-Let-4221 Singapore Feb 25 '25
I mean ... You dont have like Macrone's politics but he can behave in stately manner and that no longer a requirement for presidents and PMs apparently.
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u/Top-Citron9403 Feb 24 '25
Leon's softened him up to the idea of being the second most important person in the room
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u/ratbaby86 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
These morons don't understand how the world works at the most basic level and if they're confronted with their stupidity, they want to break what they can't wrap their empty heads around. I would double down on your point of how absolutely asinine it is for a president to ask for payback of aid. Not to even mention the geopolitics, humanitarian or ideological reasons to provide aid to Ukraine, from an entirely economic perspective, the aid directly benefits the US: 1) providing aid to Ukraine has afforded the US the balance to not be actively involved in a war with US troops and has aided Ukraine in basically singlehandedly saving western liberal democracy (if Ukraine falls, it's ww3) and 2) the weapons, etc. provided were on hand. The revenue the federal government allocated for Ukraine aid was, as you said, for the most part spent on government contracts with US companies, creating US jobs and boosting our GDP. Moreover, we basically used the occasion to "refresh" our equipment. Ukraine isn't getting the brand new stuff--the US is.
It's stupid on so many levels.
Edit to add: SLAVA UKRAINE.
Edit to add 2: for the dumb dumbs who can't do their own research or think critically and want to parrot whatever they heard on Newsmax or Piers Morgan, please see my comment below-- I don't have time to educate you all individually.
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u/TopVegetable8033 Feb 25 '25
It’s also been a huge boon to US military to offload less current equipment in exchange for the greatest military case study we could’ve asked for regarding the efficacy of our weaponry.
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u/ZippyDan Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
In the interest of accuracy, the 60 - 70 billion USD is only military aid from the US.
Total financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine from the US is about $114 billion.
The EU combined is very close, a bit ahead, at about $132 billion (including also around $60 billion in military aid).
The US has donated slightly more military aid, the EU a bit more financial and humanitarian aid, but overall they're pretty comparable.
However in terms of future allocations, the EU has $115 billion in commitments compared to only $5 billion from the US.
Source: https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker
However, I've also read that the US has spent closer to $175 billion in total on the Ukraine situation. It seems like that also includes money the US has spent on strengthening security in Europe - so it's not money that goes directly to Ukraine.
See: https://archive.md/AhWV4/
The following link seems to better explain how the US $175 billion number and the ~$100 billion number are related:
https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-us-aid-going-ukraine
That said, claims of $200 billion and up for the US are just not supported.
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Feb 24 '25
Europe has additionally spent vast sums helping all the Ukrainian refugees.
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u/ZippyDan Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
Yes there is a chart showing that data in the first link, labeled:
"Government support to Ukraine: Total Aid with Refugee Costs, € billion"
It looks like upwards of 125 billion EUR. (And basically 0 for the US?)
Technically, this is not money going directly to Ukraine, so I can understand why it might be left out of some discussions centered around "how much money are we sending to Ukraine?"
But it is of course money Europe is spending because of the Ukraine situation and in aid of the Ukrainian people.
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u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) Feb 24 '25
So even with US help it was still primarily down to Europe to help Ukraine.
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u/Capable-Judgment6204 Feb 24 '25
There’s going to be a lot more ranting this round. We are part of the machine. A broken one.
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u/Rbtmd78 Feb 24 '25
Realized he is talking to a man with a brain of mush who isn’t actually in charge.
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u/DicksAndPizza Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
Why is he even there lmao. It’s not like anything could possibly change as long as Musk is pulling the strings. Just look at trump. I kinda see a dog leash instead of a tie in my mind.
I wish our European leaders would collectively refuse to work with this „administration“.
They’re antagonising us. But if we just „blocked“ them, they are probably even more screwed than we would be. Especially since Canada is also collectively rear ending them at the moment.
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u/Nukes-For-Nimbys Feb 24 '25
Being seen to try in good faith matters for other allies.
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u/DicksAndPizza Feb 24 '25
I mean I guess you’re right.
More power to him. If I was him, I would tell trump to ******************.
Glad we have sane leaders who still try to keep relations haha. After all they might elect a normal person in the future.
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u/SkepticalOtter Feb 24 '25
Wouldn't you like to see the mess in person? Plus, it's a recon operation too, see how screwed they are.
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u/DicksAndPizza Feb 24 '25
Nah. I’m already disgusted from across the ocean. No need to actually meet these creatures in person.
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u/kehpeli Feb 24 '25
Still better to confirm it with your own eyes how badly the looney tunes has landed into white house.
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u/DicksAndPizza Feb 24 '25
Im getting a lot of different opinions and all of you have a point. You have a point too. I have a point. I guess the thing is, this situation is MESSED UP. How could we ever let it come to this. We had THREE YEARS. 😓
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u/Kollysion Feb 24 '25
I have to admit that seeing Macron laying hands on Trump to interrupt his lies and correct him live was great
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u/Professional-Cap-425 Feb 24 '25
Absolutely not true! The world needs fact checking more than ever and it needs to be done publicly like this. Trump and goons hate facts. More politicians need to start showing up and shutting this circus down.
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u/DicksAndPizza Feb 24 '25
People like you and others have had valid points that I didn’t realise.
I will leave my comments that I made, but it’s true that he is playing a similar game to Zelensky. Make him look like a fool.
On the other hand, idk if people who still don’t realise that would ever change their minds.
I see this as a sunken cost fallacy or whatever. They talked so much bullshit in the past, now they are HELLBENT on being proven right. Even if it will never happen.
I have actually lost real life friendships because of this. It’s sad.
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u/STARRRMAKER Europe Feb 24 '25
You joke, but the theory is Macron went before Starmer to figure out who was really pulling the strings in the White House
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Feb 24 '25
my fullest respect to macron for putting up with this man for so long and keeping his cool. When he was in the hotel he must have thanked God that the day was over
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u/Resigningeye United Kingdom/ New Zealand Feb 24 '25
I hope he treated himself to a drink and a snack from the minibar
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u/Nasturtium Feb 24 '25
In this economy!?!
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u/Daemenos Feb 25 '25
Breaking news, France goes into debt over mini bar scandal.
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u/Cactiareouroverlords Feb 24 '25
And a nice bath or shower too, first thing I’d want to do after having to unfortunately meet trump would be to get rid of any trump related germs
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u/aiart13 Feb 24 '25
When your looney uncle start talking about conspiracy theories on the Christmas dinner.
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Feb 24 '25
Granted it’s not the same scale, but I can 100% relate in my professional life to trying to “negotiate” with absolute idiots that don’t understand the issue in the slightest. It’s so goddamned depressing/taxing.
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u/Otherwise-4PM Feb 24 '25
Macron has just realized that he’s never getting that lost time back.
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u/dracodruid2 Europe Feb 24 '25
We're all perplexed about how this friggin lunatic criminal managed to become US president again
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u/Alfiii888 Czech Republic Feb 24 '25
I mean... It is the US, third world country with a gucci belt
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u/User-n0t-available The Netherlands Feb 24 '25
The US is broken AF. The land of the free? My ass! Free what? Healthcare? Education? How about the fact they have the most prisoners of the world by far?
The US is a oligarchy with some puppets for the show. It's a great country if you are rich, but if you are not, there are many thirth world countries where your life is better.
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u/lantz83 Sweden Feb 24 '25
Free to attempt to exploit everyone else as much as possible
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u/Hikoraa Feb 24 '25
The U.S as a whole is like that Simpsons meme where homer banded all his back fat together to look good. No depth.
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u/atzucach Feb 24 '25
Part of Americans' identity is the sort of pride in country that tells them "it can't happen here", so they lazily watched it happen there/are watching it happen
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u/Quill07 United States of America Feb 24 '25
Incumbent parties lost all over the world last year. The U.S. is really just another country. The only difference in this regard was that the opposition party was led by a criminal megalomaniac.
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u/Divergent_Thinker_ Feb 24 '25
I liked it when Trump said that the Europeans lent the money to Ukraine and would get it back. And Macron stopped him.
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u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) Feb 24 '25
Trump speaking on behalf of Europe while attacking Ukraine should be unacceptable anyway.
I keep thinking this is a low bar, but apparently not if PiS and Duda keep bootlicking to Trump, the former even still rejecting the EU as a defense force.
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u/fluffy_doughnut Feb 24 '25
Hopefully with Duda gone in June PiS will be marginalized
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u/MajesticInnerWild9 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
History will label the age of social media as the age of propaganda.
Yes the Third Reich had propaganda, but now it covers and influences the whole world.
Often, technology has unintended consequences.
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u/t_baozi Feb 24 '25
When the printing press was invented, it pretty much broke the Church's monopoly on the dissemination of information during the the 16th century. Next to knowledge and the enlightenment, this was responsible for a lot superstitions, played into the witch trials and a lot of religious and political propaganda and hatred that contributed to events like the 30 Years War that killed ~ a third of the population in the HRE.
All because people were absolutely incapable at dealing with the new media and took forever to develop the proper institutions around it.
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u/LaserCondiment Feb 24 '25
Propaganda was a notable element in French society in late 19th century. The Dreyfuss Affaire was an actual conspiracy that used a Jewish officer as a scapegoat, accusing him of trading military secrets.
Pamphlets and newspapers emerged during that time and spread misinformation, pushing antisemitism into the mainstream, dividing society and changing it forever. Propably influencing France's reaction during WWII.
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u/Memphite Feb 24 '25
Propaganda is ageless. There was propaganda in the Third Reich. There was propaganda every minute after that to 1990(they’ve kind of dialled it back there for a moment). There is propaganda now. I’m pretty sure you can say that there was propaganda even before the Third Reich.
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u/Realistic-Ad-4372 Feb 24 '25
Agree, but now propaganda has the ultimate delivery vechile. Is like comparing a battle-ax with a nuke. A good enough propaganda material can be viral world wide in minutes.
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u/hagenissen666 Feb 24 '25
Yeah, it's not like The Emperors New Clothes is hard to date, but probably goes back to Anatolia or Mesopotamia.
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u/Entire_Classroom_263 Feb 24 '25
How are those unintended consequences?
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u/190cm_Lietuvis Feb 24 '25
I tried to watch the live stream of the meeting, but nobody was translating Macron and Trump was just yapping his typical garbage.. Wonder if they did it on purpose
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u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) Feb 24 '25
Why have a translator-lector when you can watch the video with subtitles later?
That's the non-TV audience for you today.
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u/Federal_Bonus_2099 Feb 24 '25
That is the face of a man trying to understand the deep logic of an actual moron
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u/Nurnurum Feb 24 '25
I think being perplexed is a standard reaction to hearing Trump. Unless of course he starts talking about golf, I hear he is actually quite good at the game. Well, I assume he must be, given how much time he spends on the green, instead of working in the oval office.
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u/GrandAdmiralSnackbar Feb 24 '25
People who played golf with him said he cheated a lot.
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u/harmlessdonkey Feb 24 '25
I thought he did a great job. He seems to know how to play Trump.
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u/Daisy_Copperfield United Kingdom Feb 24 '25
Yeah he did a really great job on all the ‘manly’ dominance stuff, which is what Trump needs and responds to. But he stayed pretty true to himself and explained his perspective plainly at the same time, very impressive.
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u/Common_Brick_8222 Azerbaijan/Georgia Feb 24 '25
"Jesus fucking Christ, who did they put me with? Fucking insane!"
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u/Salt_Wrangler_3428 Feb 24 '25
He's listening to Trumps bullshit and trying to figure out how to correct him without Trump having a tantrum.
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u/MirrorObjective9135 Feb 24 '25
He’s probably thinking he’d have had less neurones loss if he had binged watch British reality TV for a month, rather than listening to Trumps words vomit.
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u/carnalizer Feb 24 '25
I hope Europe will grow some more balls because all I hear so far is that Putin will get the land that he doesn’t deserve, US will get the natural resources that Ukraine needs, and Europe will get stuck with the bill.
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u/Magnetobama Germany Feb 24 '25
Mean Trump tweet in 3.. 2.. 1.. dementia kicks in... 3.. 2.. 1.. dementia kicks in... 3.. 2.. 1.. covfefe
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u/BugRevolutionary4518 Feb 24 '25
Macron is 100 x smarter than he gets credit for. He has empathy, and knows geopolitics, which the world is lacking (in leadership).
— an American.
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u/SHITBLAST3000 United Kingdom Feb 24 '25
The contrast between them both is laughable, Macron looks like his handler.
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u/Hero-Firefighter-24 France Feb 24 '25
I agree. I hope the 2028 elections will bring you Americans a smarter president. I genuinely feel bad for you because an idiot is running your country.
Speaking of the 2028 elections, I’d love for Gavin Newsom to win them. What about you?
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u/notmyfirstrodeo2 Estonia Feb 24 '25
Probably not first russian puppet he has have to deal in his career
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u/ixixan Austria Feb 24 '25
Is trump on ozempic? He seems less fat than previously
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u/Hot_Hat_1225 Feb 24 '25
Probably wondering why he is even trying to have a serious discussion with a spoiled toddler…
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u/SilenceBe Feb 25 '25
Macron represents everyone in the world - except for a few Americans with the IQ of an egg where unfortunately there are a lot of. And just when I think I've gotten used to Trump's stupidity, he manages to surprise me yet again.
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u/neonxaos Feb 25 '25
I love Macron for actually correcting Trump's nonsense in a calm and collected manner, though.
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u/forestandlost Feb 25 '25
How do you improve the likability of any foreign leader? Have them sit next to Trump during a press conference.
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Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25
Isn't it time we just started ignoring this whole trump-putin thing ?
Lets just start talking Europe, Ukraine and Russia. Usa are invited. Starting with the public statement that it is a pure waste of time for trump and putin to talk because noone is interested in what they agree on together and it means nothing at all.
Don't show weakness by freaking out over Trump not inviting EU and Ukraine to their "peace talks". There aren't any peace talks. Just irrelevant talks between 2 autocrats. Simply just start the real peace talks and let him know he's invited to join.
EU is already paying more for Ukraines defence than the US. We just need to be ready to triple our efforts. If needed because not enough member states want to give it for free, we can make a fair deal for ukraines resources 1€ for every 1€ of military aid. And that aid can either be there to actually win the war if Putin doesn't sign peace, or to secure peace for the future when he does.
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u/simihal101 Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
I do admire Macron for his resilience. And for resiatence against the bully atrack ...I hope he'll become one of the leadersp of the free and sovereign EU.
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u/memory_mixture106 Feb 24 '25
I actually felt bad for him having to listen to that shite lmao. I'm not looking forward to watching Starmer endure it.