President Trump tore into French President Emmanuel Macron for sending Iran “mixed signals” following reports that he invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to this month’s Group of 7 (G-7) summit to meet with Trump.
“Iran is in serious financial trouble. They want desperately to talk to the U.S., but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France,” Trump said in a series of tweets.
“I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!” he continued.
{mosads}A French diplomat on Wednesday told Reuters that the report saying Macron extended the invite to Rouhani was incorrect. The French Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill regarding Trump’s tweets.
France and other European signatories to an Obama-era nuclear deal are scrambling to negotiate with Tehran to reverse its recent enrichment of uranium beyond the agreement’s limits. Though Trump withdrew the U.S. from the pact last year, international observers say Iran had remained complaint until recently.
Trump has sought to deploy a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran to force it back to the negotiating table to make a deal over its nuclear stockpile, missile program and support for armed groups in the Middle East. The administration has already slapped sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, metals sector, foreign minister and supreme leader, which Trump has suggested he can ramp up.
“Iran is showing their colors. Going to work out very nicely. Iran is in big trouble right now,” Trump said last month. “A lot of bad things are happening to them. It’s very easy to straighten out, or it’s very easy for us to make it a lot worse.”
Tensions increased between Washington and Tehran after Iran was accused of bombing oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and downing an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone. Trump said he authorized a retaliatory strike but then aborted the attack after learning 150 Iranians could be killed.
The president has said he’s open to negotiating with Iran on a range of issues, though Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has likened talks with the U.S. to “poison.”