PARIS: “How are you? Guess what!’ It was not the most usual beginning to a telephone call between two heads of state but neither were the circumstances.

In New York for the UN General Assembly and rushing to a meeting from UN headquarters, French President Emmanuel Macron was to his astonishment told to go no further by police as the street was blocked by the convoy of US President Donald Trump. So he reached for his phone.

“I’m waiting in the street because everything is frozen for you,” Macron told Trump in his fluent English, according to footage broadcast by BFMTV and the Brut online media.

The phone call did nothing to unblock the street with Macron continuing on foot to his meeting, which he said was at the French consulate. He had been due to have dinner with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

But the walk allowed him to continue the chat for discussions with the American leader, with Macron saying he also wanted to discuss the situation in Gaza, alongside Qatar.

“The president took the opportunity to call Donald Trump on the phone, while walking, for a very warm and friendly call, which allowed for an update on several international issues,” a said French presidential official, who asked not to be named.

Trump has strongly criticised Macron’s recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.

But the two men are said to have a warm personal relationship, which has seen long muscular handshakes and the French leader inviting Trump to the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris even before he was inaugurated for his second mandate.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2025