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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on French President Emmanuel Macron speaking in front of a joint meeting of Congress (all times local):
8:35 p.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron says that he has no "inside information" on whether President Donald Trump will pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal but that it's clear Trump "is not very much eager to defend it."
Macron's remarks to French reporters Wednesday come at the end of a three-day trip to Washington, during which he urged Trump not to withdraw from the 2015 pact aimed at restricting Iran's development of nuclear weapons.
Trump on Tuesday called the deal "ridiculous" but did not say whether he would withdraw the U.S. by the May 12 deadline he has set.
Macron points out that withdrawing the U.S. from the deal is "a campaign commitment that (Trump) took a long time ago."
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12:05 p.m.
"I have a Rendezvous with Death."
French President Emmanuel Macron used those chilling words from an American soldier-poet to stress the historical alliance between the U.S. and France in his speech to Congress.
They were written by Alan Seeger a century ago in the World War I battlefields of northern France. His bones now lie mixed in with those of others who died alongside him on July 4, 1916.
Macron's speech highlighted the ways the U.S. and France have long sacrificed for each other. But in repeating the Seeger quote, Macron also took aim at the isolationism that U.S. President Donald Trump has favored.
Seeger embraced the idea of fighting for a global, common cause, and his "Rendezvous with Death" poem eventually became a favorite of U.S. President John Kennedy.
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11:55 a.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron is urging the United States against "closing the door to the world."
In his address to Congress Wednesday, Macron said Americans and Europeans are "living in a time of anger and fear" under global threats.
"But these feelings do not build anything. You can play with fear and anger for a time," he said, adding, "Anger only freezes and weakens us."
Macron said, "We can choose isolationism, withdrawal and nationalism ... but closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world."
He spoke after a state visit with Trump, who has pushed an "America first" agenda on key global agreements, jobs, the military and immigration policy.
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11:40 a.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron is lashing out against fake news — and gave a tongue-in-cheek apology for violating President Donald Trump's "copyright" on the term.
In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday, Macron warned that lies disseminated online are threatening freedoms worldwide.
Macron, an independent centrist, said: "Without reason, without truth, there is no real democracy because democracy is about true choices and rational decisions."
Macron tasked his government this year with drafting a law to punish false information distributed during election campaigns. Macron says his presidential campaign last year was a victim of fake news, notably accusing Russian news sites RT and Sputnik.
He also warned against "terrorist propaganda that spreads its fanaticism on the internet."
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11:30 a.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron is casting climate policy in President Donald Trump's signature terms.
Addressing a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday, Macron said he was confident the U.S. will re-join the Paris climate agreement.
His appeal: "Let us work together in order to make our planet great again and create new jobs and new opportunities while safeguarding our earth."
Because if earth's climate continues to warm, "there is no Planet B," he added.
It was a clear play on Trump's signature campaign pledge in 2016 to "make America great again." Trump canceled any U.S. involvement in the landmark climate accord and said his focus is on American jobs.
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11:20 a.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron drew on the shared history and "special bond" of U.S.-French relations as he opened a joint meeting of Congress.
Macron told Congress, "the American and French people have had a rendezvous with freedom."
In recounting common bonds from the earliest days of United States, he was telling of a meeting between Ben Franklin and the French philosopher Voltaire, "kissing each other's cheeks."
In an apparent reference to his friendly meetings this week with President Donald Trump, he said, "It can remind you of something."
Macron was speaking Wednesday as part of his visit to the United States. It's the first time a president from France has addressed Congress in more than a decade, but follows a tradition of foreign leaders appearing at the U.S. Capitol.
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