Macron's Minister Tells Trump to Stay Out of French Politics

(Bloomberg) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian dismissed Donald Trump’s comments on the Yellow Vests protests in Paris, saying the U.S. president shouldn’t meddle in France’s affairs.

On Saturday, Trump sought to tie the violent protests across France triggered by higher fuel taxes with the Paris climate accord treaty he’s denounced. He said protesters were chanting his name in the streets, a claim Le Drian disputed.

“The protesters didn’t protest in English!" Le Drian said in a radio interview with RTL. “We don’t participate in America’s domestic politics and we would like that to be reciprocal.”

He said President Emmanuel Macron already told the U.S. president to stay out of French political life.

Sunday was quieter in Paris, with museums and shops reopening and protesters -- most wearing yellow safety vests -- gone from the streets. About 1,700 people were arrested nationwide in skirmishes late Saturday, and an estimated 179 were hurt in the French capital as extreme-right, extreme-left and anarchist elements defied riot forces, according to the police prefecture.

“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris,” Trump said on Twitter on Saturday. “People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment."

The president ended his tweet asserting that protesters had chanted “We Want Trump!”

Last weekend Trump also cited the protests in France to defend his decision to pull the U.S. out of the December 2015 climate agreement.

In fact, the accord has played no part in four straight weekends of protests, which began over fuel taxes but have expanded to pension issues, a higher minimum wage and restoration of a wealth tax.

Last week Macron’s government reversed course and suspended a planned fuel-tax increase.

--With assistance from Helene Fouquet.

To contact the reporters on this story: Deana Kjuka in Prague at dkjuka@bloomberg.net;Robert Williams in Paris at rwilliams323@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser, Amy Teibel

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