The fundamental philosophical differences between the leaders of the United States and France have spilled out into a full-blown public rhetorical spat. On Tuesday, President Trump fired back at French President Emmanuel Macron following the latter’s rhetorical shots directed at the America-first policies of the Trump White House.

In a tweetstorm this morning, the president unleashed a series of messages directed at Macron’s government:

Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018

On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018

The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!……..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2018

Surely, the legacy media will denounce President Trump for his attack on the legitimacy of the elected President of France and his promotion of Macron’s nationalist rivals in Paris. However, it’s important to note that POTUS is merely counterpunching here, following the French president’s passive-aggressive attack this weekend.

Over the weekend, Macron delivered a speech at the Armistice Day anniversary (a ceremony recognizing the soldiers of World War I) in which he denounced the concept of nationalism. The denunciation was widely interpreted as a not-so-veiled shot at President Trump’s political philosophy.

“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” Macron proclaimed, adding, “By saying, ‘Our interests first, who cares about the others,’ we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace and what is essential: its moral values.”

The two world leaders have had a complicated relationship since President Trump took office. They have for quite some time maintained somewhat cordial personal relations, even though they remain at odds over major policy issues, such as the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accords, tax and tariff policies, and their personal political philosophies. It appears their political differences have finally morphed into a fiercely personal clash.

Macron’s “globalist” political philosophy, which denounces nationalism as a force for evil, accurately represents the progressive movement in Western Europe, which seeks to continually centralize power in the bureaucratic behemoth that is the European Union. Macron has anti-nationalist allies in several progressive Western European nations. Today, one of Macron’s staunchest ideological allies, Germany’s Angela Merkel, called for an EU-backed joint army, which would wholly undermine the NATO alliance and the transatlantic alliance with the United States.

Macron’s campaign against nationalism comes in the heat of a legacy media and progressive political smear campaign against the tenets of nationalism. Many are weaponizing the term and smearing nationalism as a “white supremacist” philosophy akin to the Nazi regime’s ideology.

Simply put, nationalism is the preference for one’s country over another, while patriotism can be defined as having immense pride in one’s country. For conservatives, both nationalism and patriotism are healthy forces when focused in a state that advances and protects the individual rights of its citizens. Those two forces provide for a more stable world, in which sovereign states can treat each other with mutual respect and dignity. (For more from the author of “Trump v. Macron Defines the Clash of Nationalism Against European Progressivism” please click HERE)

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At an event to honor the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, French President Emanuel Macron lashed out at President Donald Trump, devoting his speech at a veterans’ memorial to fire back at Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

Just weeks ago, Trump called himself an unabashed “nationalist,” praising both domestic and foreign policies that put America before its allies. The move drew swift condemnation at home, as Republicans and Democrats alike cautioned Trump over the connotations of openly “nationalist” rhetoric.

But Trump has maintained that he values American sovereignty in foreign entanglements, and that matters of trade — and even of defense — will be judged by an “America First” standard.

Sunday, at a multi-national war memorial event in Paris, Macron repudiated Trump by hearkening back to the “nationalist” policies that gave way to World War I, and brought about the slaughter of millions of young men. Macron pleaded with his audience to “never again” allow nationalism to supersede global unity. . .

“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” he continued. “In saying ‘Our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.” (Read more from “French President Macron Fires Back at Trump” HERE)

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Three police officers were injured during clashes with migrants Saturday by the French port of Calais.

Calais has become a hotspot for migrants who want to make it to the United Kingdom through the Eurotunnel. Migrants frequently attempt to hijack trucks on the motorway and many “took advantage of the bottleneck to board a few trucks,” according to local deputy police chief Jean-Philippe Vennin.

“Our British colleagues had opened only nine out of 14 lanes this weekend though we expected 9,000 vehicles in the Eurotunnel and 7,500 at the port,” Vennin told AFP.

Police used tear gas to stop migrants and three police officers were reported injured. Police did not comment on whether any migrants were hurt during the clashes. (Read more from “French Police Officers Injured During Clashes With Migrants” HERE)

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France held a presidential election Sunday under the looming threat of Islamist terrorism, and winnowed the field to two candidates at opposite ends of what has become the new ideological battle line of our era: nationalism vs. globalism, for lack of better terms.

One candidate, Marine Le Pen, hails from the pitchfork end of European blood-and-soil nationalism. The other candidate, Emmanuel Macron, is a We-Are-The-World internationalist cut in the mold of Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau.

According to initial results, Macron won 23.7 percent of the vote, while Le Pen won 21.7 percent in what was the first round of this election. They will face off in the second runoff round of elections on May 7. None of the other nine candidates running Sunday got above 20 percent support. Le Pen wants to end immigration to France, saying the country is full.

Macron is heavily favored to win in the second round, though. Of course, polls have been wrong in the past.

The two are archetypes of the new global struggle that has replaced the old left-right paradigm. Their reactions to a terrorist attack on Thursday on France’s main boulevard, the Champs Elysees, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, epitomized their outlooks.

Following the attack, Macron wondered on French Radio whether terrorism is a new normal to which the French must become accustomed.

“This threat, this imponderable problem, is part of our daily lives for the years to come,” Macron said.

Le Pen said she would deport everyone on the terror watch list, even those born in France, shut down all Islamist mosques, and close French borders.

Le Pen leads the far-right National Front, founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, whom she ousted as leader to “de-demonize” the party after years of anti-Semitic and racist statements by him.

Macron founded his own movement, En Marche!, after serving as economy minister for the current Socialist president, Francois Hollande.

Their victory amounted to a complete collapse of the two parties that have mostly alternated in power since Gen. Charles de Gaulle created France’s Fifth Republic in 1958, the right-of-center Gaullists and the leftist Socialists. The only exception to this two-party system was the election of centrist President Valerie Giscard d’Estaing in the 1970s.

Because Macron and Le Pen come from parties without large political bases, it is unlikely that either will benefit from a legislative majority that will emerge after elections on June 11 and 18. Macron, however, is widely expected to be able to cobble together a supportive coalition should he win the presidential election in May.

There’s no question that Le Pen’s suite of policies and stances fit much better with President Donald Trump’s outlook. Trump predicted two days ago that she would benefit from the terrorist attack.

Le Pen, 48, wants to pull France out of the “Schengen Area” of 26 European countries that have dissolved external borders, and out of the European Union’s common currency, the euro.

But she is also close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from whom the Trump administration is now trying to put some distance. Le Pen said she would consider lifting economic sanctions on Russia if elected. Her campaign has benefited from Russian bank loans and the support of Putin’s vast propaganda empire.

Macron, 39, is the candidate that best fits the style of Angela Merkel, Germany’s powerful chancellor. Of the 11 candidates who ran on Sunday, Macron most closely echoes Merkel’s staunch support for a strong and expanding European Union, her pro-immigration policies, and her desire to keep in place economic sanctions on Russia. His promises to introduce economic reforms also please Berlin.

Merkel’s aversion to Le Pen is so strong—and so richly reciprocated—that The Economist remarked on Sunday, using the name of the German foreign ministry, that “There is no file sitting in a locked drawer somewhere in the Auswärtiges Amt with contingency plans for a Le Pen win.”

But even a Macron-led France can work with the Trump administration. In Africa, for example, Paris can make the case to the White House that its troops fight terrorism every day in a place that seems to be next front line for ISIS and al-Qaeda. It is likely that the administration would see even a Macron-led France as a partner in this endeavor.

Despite their differences, Le Pen and Macron have distinct similarities. They are both big government types.

Le Pen is a champion of public services, would tax companies that outsource manufacturing, and would not touch France’s economically nefarious 35-hour workweek. She also refuses to cut down France’s bloated civil servant rolls.

Macron says he wants “flexibility” for young Frenchmen when it comes to the workweek. But he can see reducing the workweek for people above 50 to 32 hours or even 30 hours. “Why not?” he asks.

Macron also wants to spend an additional 50 billion euros during the upcoming five-year presidential term. He wants a eurozone budget and finance minister. He would not raise France’s low retirement age of 62, but at least he would not lower it even further to 60, which is what Le Pen promises to do.

And there’s no question that in choosing these two candidates, French voters have snubbed the political establishment. If the election of Trump was American voters throwing a brick through the window of the East Coast establishment, this was the French voters hurling a Molotov Cocktail into the still smoke-filled rooms of France’s political class. (For more from the author of “First Round of French Presidential Election a Blow to the Establishment” please click HERE)

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