Trump vs Macron again? French president's 'Rafale is calling' post triggers speculations amid Israel-Iran war

In a cryptic post, French President Emmanuel Macron seems to be pushing European countries for the Rafale jets as a symbol of strategic autonomy and self-reliance in defence platforms. Without explicitly asking Europe to lessen its dependence on American combat aircraft and firepower, Macron posted a photo of the French Rafale jet on X with the caption: “European friends, you have a call.” This comes in line with Macron's repeated calls to Europe to take an independent stand on security without the aid of the United States of America. Macron projects Rafale as a sign of European independence and has proposed that it is Rafale that can “secure” Europe. His post ends with the “Secure our Europe” message.

Macron, a vocal supporter of European strategic autonomy, had in March, highlighted the need for Europe's autonomy, especially after Trump's takeover in the US. "As there are doubts over the support of the Americans towards Europe over time, we need to mobilise hundreds of billions of euros... it is Europe's strategic wake-up moment.We must offer European alternatives to countries accustomed to US equipment... scaling up production of these will lower costs and create a self-sustaining defence network across Europe.," French daily Le Parisien quoted him as saying. Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, also said it was his "absolute priority" to strengthen his nation and Europe to "achieve independence from the US".

Trump vs Macron

The post by Macron also comes amid a war of words between Macron and Trump over the Israel-Iran war. Speaking to reporters at the G7 Summit, the French president stated that Trump's early exit could be due to the US' assurance that they will find a ceasefire between the two countries. I Donald Trump denied making any such comments and slammed Macron publically. "Publicity-seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong," Trump wrote on the social media platform.