France calls Trump's claim of pressurising Macron over drug prices 'fake news'
Trump said in a speech at Davos that he had threatened Macron with tariffs to cajole him into increasing drug prices in France.
France has rejected as "fake news” Donald Trump's assertion that he had pressured President Emmanuel Macron into hiking domestic drug prices after the US president threatened sweeping tariffs on French imports to the United States.
It was the latest salvo in an escalating war of words between the two NATO allies, as Trump's threat to take control of Greenland puts transatlantic relations under unprecedented strain.
"It is being claimed that President Emmanuel Macron increased the price of medicines," the French presidency wrote on X on Wednesday.
"He does not set their prices. They are regulated by the social security system and have, in fact, remained stable. Anyone who has set foot in a French pharmacy knows this."
The Elysee used a GIF of Trump mouthing the words "fake news" in front of a microphone, with the same words in writing underneath.
Earlier, Trump said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he had threatened Macron with tariffs to cajole him into increasing drug prices in France.
‘No, no, Donald’
“Here’s the story, Emmanuel, I said. The answer is, you're going to do it; you're going to do it fast. And if you don't, I'm putting a 25 percent tariff on everything that you sell into the United States and a 100 percent tariff on your wines and champagnes,” Trump said.
"(And Macron said), 'No, no, Donald, I will do it, I will do it. ’ It took me on average three minutes a country, saying the same thing, 'You will do it," Trump added.
Trump has also threatened to hit French wines and champagnes with 200 percent tariffs in an apparent effort to persuade him to join the US leader's Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.
Macron has taken a harder line than most European Union leaders over Trump's Greenland threat, urging the bloc to activate its most potent trade tools against Washington and saying Europe would not give in to bullies.
The French government last year set up an account called “frenchresponse” to expose false narratives and misinformation.
The account has become increasingly active in recent weeks, notably in challenging rhetoric from the Trump administration.