On Nov. 10, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States was unfairly taxed by France during an appearance on Fox News. “We’ve had a lot of problems with the French where we get taxed unfairly on our technology,” Trump told Fox News personality Laura Ingraham.
The interview, initially about Chinese students in U.S. universities, shifted to France after Ingraham compared Chinese foreign students to French ones in order to make an argument about the alleged risks of Chinese students spying for their government or for Chinese companies. Her argument suggested that French students could be trusted, whereas Chinese ones could not.
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Trump pushed back against that characterization: “Do you think the French are better, really? I will tell you, I’m not so sure.”
Trump also indicated, however, that he wanted U.S. universities to thrive and succeed, and argued that the higher tuition rates foreign students often pay help colleges grow. Ingraham made it clear she did not want colleges to grow, at one point even suggesting that half of U.S. universities should go out of business.
Despite the exchange, and despite their political differences, Trump and his counterpart, French President Emmanuel Macron, have reportedly maintained what Radio France Internationale describes as a “bromance.” The two world leaders have been forced by major events to work together on some key issues, namely the war in Ukraine and Western allied security, even as their views diverge on issues like climate change.
