DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris first weighs the New York meeting in terms of the gas pump: the dialogue with Trump on Ukraine and the Red Sea is presented as a lever against the surge in diesel fuel that is fueling social discontent and disrupting the presidential campaign.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The Macron-Trump meeting at Trump Tower lasted about half an hour on Monday, September 21, and covered Ukraine, the Red Sea, and oil prices, deemed "very constructive" by Macron.
- 02
Diesel averaged 2.41 euros on Sunday, September 20, compared to 2.18 euros for SP95-E10 and 2.28 euros for SP98, according to L'Obs.
- 03
Macron wrote to Ursula von der Leyen on September 18 to request a relaxation of European rules to allow for a 20% increase in fuel production, according to a letter seen by BFMTV.
ANALYSIS
Paris, September 22, 2026. Emmanuel Macron walked across Manhattan on foot on Monday, September 21, to meet Donald Trump at the Trump Tower, where the two leaders exchanged for about half an hour on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "We had a very good discussion. It was very constructive," the French president assured journalists, referring to a conversation about the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Red Sea, and the surge in oil prices. The French press is mainly reading this meeting in light of a domestic urgency: prices at the pump.
On Sunday, September 20, diesel was approaching 2.41 euros on average, compared to 2.18 euros for SP95-E10 and 2.28 euros for SP98, levels that are fueling social unrest already marked by blockages of oil depots led by fishermen in the Mediterranean. The government fears the resurgence of a movement like the Yellow Vests, in the midst of a presidential campaign. Sébastien Lecornu held two ministerial meetings on Monday, one on oil and gas supplies, the other on supporting the French in the face of rising prices.
It is in this context that Macron wrote to Ursula von der Leyen on September 18 to demand a relaxation of European rules in order to produce "quickly 20% more fuel," according to a letter consulted by BFMTV. He mentions a contraction of the global oil supply, stocks down by "more than 500 million barrels," and the "targeting of Russian and Middle Eastern energy infrastructure."
In New York, Macron pleaded for "better securing" of oil sites in the Red Sea and for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global hydrocarbon trade passes, by working on a UN Security Council resolution. On Ukraine, he insisted on the need to "help our Ukrainian friends even faster and stronger in terms of [missile] interceptors."
The executive is hammering home that the price increase "is due to a distant war," rather than a fiscal choice, an argument already ridiculed by the opposition: "don't forget to politely ask" Trump to stop the war, ironized a former Macronist minister targeting Jordan Bardella.
SOURCES (6)
- 20 MinutesMEDIUM
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
- L'ObsMEDIUM
- BFM BusinessMEDIUM
