Macron pressed on all sides for grand gesture to end crisis

Bloomberg

Secluded in his Presidential palace, Emmanuel Macron is looking for a miracle. An angry France is waiting to see if he finds one.
Macron was due to address the nation on Monday evening. Everyone, from Yellow Vest protesters to his dwindling number of supporters, is anticipating some solution to end the downward spiral of Europe’s second largest economy, started last month with a grass-roots movement against fuel tax hikes.
Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux promised on Sunday his boss would bring “tailor-made solutions’’ to “find the way back to hearts of
French people.” First, he’s meeting union leaders and local government heads to discuss his proposals.
“Macron has left things go for so long now that people are waiting for a grand gesture,’’ said Arthur Goldhammer, a researcher affiliated with Harvard University’s Center for European Studies. “He finds himself in an impossible situation where he has to admit his errors, not change the substance of his mandate and offer a whole new sequence of priorities.’’

‘Crucial Moment’
Goldhammer called Macron’s planned address a “crucial moment of his presidency.’’
The French leader will speak — his office has declined to hint at any substance — after four consecutive Saturdays of protest and street violence. A newly-formed association of Yellow Vests has called for a fifth Saturday of demonstrations on December 15, but is insisting that it be “peaceful.’’
One union, Solidaires, said in a statement that it wouldn’t attend the meeting because “we’re not sure that unions right now have to talk with a desperate president.” It dismissed Macron’s response as a “communication plan”.
The youngest French leader since Napoleon, who has not made any public appearances or comments since December 5, is facing a political and economic quandary.
Experts say there is no way for Macron, who has already backed down on energy tax hikes, to meet the many and often contradictory demands of the diverse group of protesters.

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 US president shouldn’t meddle in France’s affairs.
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 US 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.