If you’ve ever lived in New York City, you’re likely familiar with the traffic chaos caused by the annual United Nations General Assembly. The influx of world leaders leads to frustrating street closures in Midtown around the UN headquarters, and even world leaders aren’t immune. French President Emmanuel Macron was unable to cross a city street on Monday night because police had barricaded the road for President Donald Trump’s motorcade. Macron decided to pull out his phone to call his American counterpart so he could get permission to pass.
Macron and his entourage ditched the motorcade and joined the masses on the sidewalk. However, the French President’s walk hit an obstacle at the intersection of 52nd Street and Second Avenue. He tried to persuade an NYPD officer to let him by and jokingly said, “If you don’t see [the motorcade], let me cross.” After being denied, Macron dialed Trump. It had to be the biggest escalation I’ve ever seen in a police interaction without a lethal weapon, if we ignore the nuclear football. In a video aired by CBC News, Macron said over the phone, “How are you? Guess what? I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you.” To no one’s surprise, Trump couldn’t or wouldn’t help, and Macron had to wait for the Beast to roll past.
Macron doesn’t have a problem with subverting local authorities
President Macron is no stranger to subverting the local authorities back home in France. During his tenure as France’s finance minister in 2015, Marseille banned Uber from operating in the city. A 2022 leak of 124,000 confidential documents from inside the rideshare company revealed that Macron was contacted after the ban went into effect. He promised to look into the situation. Two days later, the ban in France’s second-largest city was revoked. When asked about the controversy as the French President in 2022, he said:
“I’m proud of it. If they have created jobs in France, I’m very proud of that, and you know what, I’d do it again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
Maybe Macron didn’t actually want the so-called “King of New York” to issue an order to local police. It could have been a convenient excuse to get him on the phone. The French President also asked to schedule a chat with Trump and Qatar about the situation in Gaza. Like a guy looking for a reason to call an ex-girlfriend, Macron was trying to find a solution to a humanitarian crisis.
