'Guess what!': Macron phones Trump after blocked by presidential convoy

“How are you? Guess what!” was not the kind of greeting one would expect in a call between two heads of state, but the circumstances were unusual.

While attending the UN General Assembly in New York, French President Emmanuel Macron was on his way to a meeting from UN headquarters when police suddenly stopped him. The street had been closed off to make way for the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Surprised, Macron picked up his phone. “I’m standing in the street because everything’s blocked for you,” he told Trump in fluent English, according to footage aired by BFMTV and Brut.

The call, however, did not clear the way, so Macron continued to his meeting on foot — reportedly at the French consulate — where he had also been scheduled to dine with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Walking gave him the chance to keep the conversation going with Trump, including discussion of the situation in Gaza, in coordination with Qatar.

According to a French presidential official, who spoke anonymously, Macron used the moment to have “a very warm and friendly call” with Trump, covering several international issues.

Trump has been sharply critical of Macron’s recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN. Yet the two leaders are said to maintain a cordial personal rapport, marked by firm handshakes and symbolic gestures such as Macron’s invitation for Trump to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, even before Macron’s second term began.