Paris: France's foreign minister on Sunday urged Donald Trump not to interfere in French politics after the US president posted tweets about the protests rocking the country as well as attacking the Paris climate agreement.
"We do not take domestic American politics into account and we want that to be reciprocated," Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television. "Leave our nation be."
Other French politicians have also responded angrily to Trump's latest tweets, including a lawmaker from Macron's party who dubbed the US leader "Donald the Senile".
"DON'T INSULT MY COUNTRY DOTARD," Joachim Son-Forget posted, employing an antiquated insult previously used against Trump by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump had weighed in on the protests in previous tweets, deploring the "large and violent French protests".
Despite their differences - Macron is a 40-year-old centrist and Trump a 72-year-old rightwinger - the French and US leaders initially enjoyed warm ties.
But relations have soured in recent months, not least over Trump's rejection of the climate agreement and hard-fought Iran nuclear deal.
Last month a fresh row blew up after Macron gave an interview calling for a "European army" and arguing that Europe needed to be more independent from the US in its defence policy.
Macron is further thought to have riled the US president during commemorations marking the end of World War I when the French leader took aim at Trump-style nationalism in his speech.
Le Drian, like other members of the government, stressed that Macron wanted a dialogue with the protesters and would offer solutions when he addresses the nation early next week.
"I think his remarks will be strong enough for the movement to halt, or at least for the hooligans to be put off," the foreign minister said.
He expressed concern over remarks among some protesters calling for an "insurrection" in France.
"As foreign minister I travel around the world and I know - you can witness it in certain countries - how fragile democracy is," Le Drian said.
"I hear people saying, 'This is an insurrection'. That is not the republic I know."
