Macron Warns of U.S. Retreat from Global Rules and Growing Strains with Allies

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday delivered some of his strongest criticism yet of the United States under President Donald Trump, warning that Washington is increasingly distancing itself from allies and stepping away from the international rules-based order it once championed.

Speaking at the Élysée Palace during his annual address to French ambassadors, Macron said the world was entering a phase marked by renewed power politics, as European capitals scrambled to respond to recent U.S. actions, including the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and renewed assertions over Greenland.

“The United States is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking free from international rules that it was still promoting recently,” Macron said. He cautioned against what he described as a growing temptation among major powers to “divide up the world,” rejecting what he termed a resurgence of colonial and imperial thinking.

While Macron also criticised China’s “increasingly uninhibited commercial aggressiveness” and described Russia as a destabilising force due to its prolonged war in Ukraine, his remarks on the United States were the most pointed. Nevertheless, he stopped short of advocating a rupture with Washington, noting that U.S. envoys had participated earlier this week in a key Paris meeting on potential security guarantees linked to ending the war in Ukraine.

Urging French diplomats to be proactive, Macron warned against passivity in the face of a rapidly shifting global order. “We are not here to comment. We are here to act,” he said.

His speech followed the weekend operation in which U.S. special forces detained Maduro and transferred him to New York, prompting international criticism that Washington was undermining international law. Tensions have also risen in Europe after Trump reiterated his desire to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, and declined to rule out the use of force remarks that have drawn sharp rebukes from Denmark and other NATO allies.

Macron acknowledged that multilateral institutions were becoming less effective but insisted they remained essential. He called for renewed investment in global governance structures, particularly the United Nations, at a time when, he said, long-standing assumptions about territorial integrity were being openly questioned.

His comments came a day after the White House confirmed the U.S. withdrawal from dozens of international organisations and treaties, many linked to the UN, citing conflicts with American interests.

Macron also urged Europe to defend its economic and strategic interests, including by strengthening regulation of the technology sector. He reaffirmed France’s support for the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, describing them as essential tools to protect competition, information integrity and academic independence.

“The DMA and DSA are two regulations that must be defended,” Macron said, arguing for a controlled information environment where free expression is preserved without public debate being shaped by the algorithms of a small number of technology companies.