FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Le Monde headlines Trump's threat to reduce troops by 'far more' than 5,000. The US president made these remarks Saturday at West Palm Beach, Florida, while boarding his plane. 'We're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000,' he told reporters.

The newspaper analyzes the context: Trump took this decision after Merz said Monday that 'the Americans apparently have no strategy' in Iran and that Tehran was 'humiliating' the world's leading power. 'More broadly, the US president reproaches his traditional European allies for their lack of support in his offensive launched in late February against the Islamic Republic alongside Israel.'

France, which has advocated for European strategic autonomy since Macron's 2017 Sorbonne speech, observes the crisis as a validation of its long-term analysis: excessive dependence on American protection is a strategic risk.