On September 23, local time, French President Emmanuel Macron received praise from the heads of state after his end speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Digital leaders, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, have gone by to shake hands with him, while the president facing difficulties in France (support has fallen to 17 percent, the lowest level since taking office in 2017) is also quite spectacular.
But not long after, Macron, 47, was embarrassed when his fleet was stopped by New York police.
After the end of the speech, Macron wasly preparing to travel to the French diplomatic mission in New York, but was stopped at a crossroads by New York police on the grounds that “the president’s carriage was going through the need to block the road.”
When Mr. Macron personally asked about the situation, Big Beard police officer Mr. Bingham politely said to him: "Sorry, Mr. President, I'm really sorry, but everything is blocked and the road is blocked."
Macron then said half jokingly in French-flavored English, "I'll talk to you, you pretend you didn't see and let us pass." This sentence triggered laughter from onlookers, but the officer just smiled and walked away.
Macron obviously didn’t want to get stuck on the road, so he pulled out his cell phone and called the “big person” that caused the blockade.
"How are you?" Macron said with a slightly reproaching tone. "Guess what? I'm waiting in the street, because everything is locked down!"
French officials confirmed afterwards that Trump was on the other end of the phone. And because Trump had time to talk to Macron at that time, the French president took advantage of the situation and said, "I would be happy to have a brief discussion with Qatar and you on the situation in Gaza this weekend."
A few minutes later, the blockade was lifted, but Macron could only follow the pedestrians to his destination on foot. It is said that the group marched for about 30 minutes.
During this time, Macron was also walking and chatting with Trump, using his French-specific English.
Walking along the road, Macron also met a couple who wanted to take a picture with him. The men may have been too excited and kissed his forehead when he went to Macron.
French media have diverged about Macron’s trapped on the streets of New York, partly viewing it as “proof of coolness and humour about Macron’s affairs,” but also commenting that it represents “a symbol of subtle priority between diplomatic rituals or identities.”
In the eyes of some French people, this incident is "humiliating". "Our president is trapped on the side of the road, but Trump's motorcade is advancing like the king's parade."
But in any case, Macron himself clearly knew how to push for dramatic developments, otherwise he’t have made a phone call to Trump at the time.