French President Emmanuel Macron said phone calls with President Trump are like eating sausages — you don’t really want to know how they’re made or what’s inside.
Macron was asked at a press conference on Tuesday to elaborate about a reported “terrible” phone call with Trump, according to Reuters.
The French leader then quoted the 19th century Prussian prince and statesman Otto von Bismarck.
“As Bismarck used to say, if we explained to people how sausages were made, it’s unlikely they’d keep eating them,” Macron said, the news service reported.
“So I like it when people see the finished meal, but I’m not convinced the kitchen commentary helps with delivering the meal or eating it,” he added.
{mosads}Macron was reportedly very critical during a call with Trump last week of the president’s decision to target the European Union, Mexico and Canada with massive steel and aluminum tariffs.
Two sources familiar with the call told CNN on Monday it was just “terrible.”
“Macron thought he would be able to speak his mind, based on the relationship. But Trump can’t handle being criticized like that,” one source said.
A read-out from France’s executive office said Macron told Trump the tariffs were both “illegal” and a “mistake,” according to Reuters.
The White House simply said the phone call focused on trade and immigration.