PARIS — Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, France’s foreign minister and an American cinema luminary pushed back at U.S. President Donald Trump for insulting the city on Friday in a speech.
Trump evoked his friend Jim, “a very, very substantial guy,” in an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Jim used to be a regular visitor to Paris, Trump said, but hasn’t made the trip in four or five years because “Paris is no longer Paris.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault offered his own proof that Americans like not just Paris but all of France: “3.5 million Americans visited France in 2016,” he tweeted. “They will always be welcome.”
George Clooney used the red carpet to speak up for Paris as he headed into the awards ceremony for this year’s Cesar, the French version of the Oscar.
“Yes, no one wants to go to Paris anymore because it’s horrible here, apparently,” he said as he entered the theater. “We have some things to work on in the United States,” he said, without ever naming Trump. In a veiled illusion to France far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, Clooney added, “I think you guys have some of the same issues here so … good luck.”