Though Bayrou as prime minister will mostly deal with domestic issues — leaving foreign affairs to President Emmanuel Macron, his ally — he also addressed the fraught geopolitical situation that France and Europe face, caught between a historical ally in the United States that now appears ready to “flaunt” the rules-based international order, and China, which is “weaving the web of its economic, technological, diplomatic and military domination.”
Bayrou mentioned Trump’s threats to annex Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal and even name-checked Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, who he said represents “the unbridled face of this new world order, or rather this new world disorder, which threatens all balances and all rules of decency.
“It’s time to face the facts. These great powers, whom we respect, it’s up to us to let them know who we are, because without our determination, they’ll forget,” Bayrou said.
This developing story is being updated.