“Hello Emmanuel, we need to talk!”: The French president was about to leave for New Orleans, the last leg of his state visit to America, when he received a phone call from billionaire Elon Musk. America’s richest man was deliberately not invited to the state banquet in the marquee in the White House garden. Host Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron have been equally wary of what’s been happening since Musk took over Twitter, Macron leaked.
Defying protocol, Musk directly negotiated a meeting with Macron, which ended up taking place in an unspectacular back room of the New Orleans Museum of Art. While the finely dressed guests in the museum’s stately foyer began dancing to the tune of Cajun music to bridge the waiting time until Macron’s speech on “Francophonie,” the president had a “clear and honest conversation” with Musk. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, in consultation with his compatriot Macron, had previously threatened that Twitter would have to effectively curb the spread of lies and hatred “if it is to continue operating on the European market”. Not far from the masterpieces of Degas, Monet, Renoir and Picasso, Macron then asked the billionaire to respect European rules.
