Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Emmanuel Macron, claiming the French "were starting to learn German" until the US intervened in the First and Second World Wars.

In his latest rebuke of the French president - who last week called for a "real European army" to defend the continent against China, Russia and even the US - Mr Trump appeared to insult the role played by Paris in both of the conflicts.

The US leader, who had already described the idea of an EU army as "insulting", tweeted: "Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the US, China and Russia.

"But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the US came along. Pay for NATO or not!"

Macron and Trump: Bromance to breakup?

He later added: "The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject.


"By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so! MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!"

President Macron's office said it had no comment to make on the tweets.

Despite talk of a blossoming bromance between the pair after Mr Macron enjoyed a visit to Washington earlier this year, tensions have simmered in recent weeks.

Mr Trump visited Paris for a weekend of events commemorating 100 years since the end of the First World War, and had a frosty meeting with his French counterpart in front of cameras at the Elysee Palace on Saturday morning.

He was also criticised for cancelling a visit to US war cemetery Belleau Wood on Saturday afternoon due to "bad weather".

The French military poked fun at the president on Twitter with pictures of them training in the rain.

#MondayMotivation Il y a de la pluie, mais c'est pas grave 😅 On reste motivé 👊 pic.twitter.com/29hOJ9ITF0 — Armée de Terre (@armeedeterre) November 12, 2018

Using the hashtag #MondayMotivation, they wrote: "Il y a de la pluie, mais c'est pas grave [it is raining, but it's not a big deal]."

The US president reiterated his complaint about the amount Europe contributes to NATO, and said: "Different countries have to also help and it's only fair... and the president (Mr Macron) and I very much agree on that."

Mr Macron said that while he agreed, he thought it was "unfair" for European security to be overly-reliant on the US.

Merkel calls for European army

And in a speech to the European parliament, Germany's leader Angela Merkel, said she had a vision of a "real, true" European army - drawing applause and some boos.

She added that the proposal could be run in parallel to trans-Atlantic cooperation within the NATO military alliance, but underscored that "only a stronger Europe is going to defend Europe".

"Europe must take our fate into our own hands if we want to protect our community," she said.

Mrs Merkel's ambition for Europe came just days after she announced she would stand down following her term in office in 2021.

Following her address, Nigel Farage told the European Parliament how Brexit is a "liberation".

He said: "I believe, having heard you today - and listening to senior French politicians over the last couple of days - for us leaving the EU is now indeed a liberation.

"An EU which we're now told is to become an empire, a militarised EU, an undemocratic EU, an EU that seeks to continually expand to the east, an EU that has launched a new Cold War against the USA.

"An EU that tries to rewrite history. And, I think, 100 years on from the Armistice, we should be genuinely worried."

He added that Brexit has "become a necessity" after this.

Earlier this week, Mr Macron used his speech marking Armistice Day to warn world leaders as to the dangers of the nationalist sentiment being adopted by the likes of the US.

In front of nearly 70 heads of state, he said that nationalism is a "betrayal of patriotism".

Mr Trump was among those who listened in silence as he used the occasion to sound a sobering warning about the fragility of peace and the dangers of nations that put themselves first.

Mr Macron's rallying cry was echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a peace forum in the city later in the day, but neither warning seems likely to be heeded by Mr Trump.

The Republican has repeatedly criticised the amount of money Europe commits to NATO compared to the US, and earlier this year suggested allies double their targeted 2024 spending commitment from 2% of their GDP to 4%.