As we reported, some of our European allies fell woefully short when it came to the question of helping with regard to Iran. It wasn't even about them offering up military help. They wouldn't even let us fly through their airspace or use bases that we'd shared for years.
It was a stark reminder, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it, of how one-sided the NATO relationship has become.
Among them was France, as President Donald Trump pointed out.
“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump said on Truth Social. “France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated!”
“The U.S.A. will remember!!!” he wrote.
READ MORE: Watch: Rubio Delivers Blunt Message to NATO Allies - They Need to Listen
The French Straw Just Broke NATO's Back
On Wednesday, during remarks at the White House, President Donald Trump delivered a brutal line in response to France's failure to step up, joking about the time the cameras caught Emmanuel Macron being hit by his wife and noting he was "still recovering."
🚨 LMFAO! President Trump just DROPPED this brutal line on French President Emmanuel Macron
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 1, 2026
"Macron, whose wife treats him EXTREMELY badly."
*Room cracks up*
"He's still recovering from the right to the jaw!"
🤣😭pic.twitter.com/om4b3JmfVT
While it's a joke, I think it's also a broader comment on Macron and France allowing themselves to be rolled over.
That's really what's going on with France's response to Iran here. Even if they didn't like the military action against Iran, they're supposed to be our ally. Iran is a terrorist nation. Iran is firing on their Gulf neighbors. They're selectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz and hurting France's own interests. How does Macron respond?
Macron on the Strait of Hormuz: “This has never been the option that we’ve chosen and we think it’s unrealistic (military means)... We must be able to reopen this strait because it’s strategic for energy, fertilizers, and international trade, but it can only be done in…
— Annmarie Hordern (@annmarie) April 2, 2026
“This has never been the option that we’ve chosen and we think it’s unrealistic (military means)... We must be able to reopen this strait because it’s strategic for energy, fertilizers, and international trade, but it can only be done in consultation with Iran.”
Translation? We're going to kowtow to Iran and let them hold us over a barrel. Seriously? That's how you protect your own interests? Smells like surrender to me. Yes, let's sit down with the terrorists and let them dictate to us.
Macron's response to Trump's remark was to call it "inelegant." No, inelegant is not standing up for your own people.
There tends to be a price for that weakness, and France may already be feeling it.
Israel is stopping the acquisition of defense-related goods and services from France, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
“The Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram has decided to reduce all defense procurement from France to zero, replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries,” a Defense Ministry spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Hill.
That has to be a ton of contracts that just flew out the door. Good job, Macron!
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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