Macron Asks Trump to Lift Sanctions on European Officials

Emmanuel Macron with Donald Trump last year.

Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote to Donald Trump asking his US counterpart to lift sanctions imposed on officials including former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton.

The US placed visa bans on Breton and several activists in December for trying to police online hate speech with “extraterritorial censorship.” At the time, Macron condemned the move as an act of intimidation undermining Europe’s sovereignty.