French President Emmanuel Macron was ridiculed online for his choice of words when congratulating President-Elect Donald Trump.
The 46-year-old was among many world leaders who took to X to toast Trump on his win against Vice President Kamala Harris.
‘Congratulations President @realDonaldTrump,’ Macron wrote, using the handle for the president-elect.
‘Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition for more peace and prosperity.’
But Macron’s message quickly came under scrutiny for his use of the word ‘convictions,’ given Trump’s felony convictions, with some calling him a ‘boss level troll.’
A member of the French president’s communications team insisted to The Huffington Post, ‘The word “convictions” in the president’s tweet mean beliefs and cannot be associated with the meaning of convictions as condemnation/sanctions.’
Still, many X users called Macron out for what they called his ‘trolling’ of Trump.
‘Trying to work out if Macron has actually achieved Boss Level troll status by mentioning Trump’s “convictions,” one wrote, as another deemed Macros the ‘best troll in history.’
Henry Morris, a retired Tory MP, also commented: ‘His convictions. All 34 of them,’ while a fourth suggested ‘Convictions doesn’t translate well.’
Trump was previously found guilty on all counts in his historic criminal trial over the ‘hush money’ paid to Stormy Daniels in New York City in May.
The jury of seven men and five women at Manhattan Criminal Court deliberated for nearly 10 hours before convicting the former president of 34 charges of falsifying business records.
Each charge carries a maximum potential sentence of up to four years in prison, but Judge Juan Merchan could decide to impose a lesser sentence on the president-elect like probation, home confinement, community service or even a fine.
The judge has also given himself until November 12 to decide whether to drop Trump’s conviction altogether following the Supreme Court ruling that gave Trump partial presidential immunity.
Should Merchan decide to uphold the conviction, Trump’s lawyers are expected to seek a delayed sentencing so they can appeal.
If this should prove unsuccessful, the attorneys would likely go to state appellate courts to appeal the immunity decision, which would also delay Trump’s sentencing, possibly by several months.
Trump’s lawyers are also likely to use their appeals in the case to question whether a state judge can even sentence a president-elect, which could see the case being fought out in courts for years.
But even once Trump is sworn in the office, he won’t have the power to pardon himself due to it being a state case.
In the meantime, Trump is due to appear for sentencing on November 26.
Trump is also facing four charges in federal court for allegedly spreading false claims of election fraud to try to block the collection and certification of votes from the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The president-elect has previously asked federal courts to grant him presidential immunity, which delayed the Washington DC case for months, although the federal judge overseeing the case is still deciding how much Trump is actually covered by presidential immunity for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Since Trump will only be sworn into office on Inauguration Day on January 20, U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has time to think about his next steps before Trump will likely follow through on his promise to fire Smith.
One question is whether Trump as president-elect would have the same legal protection against prosecution like a sitting president, which would be decided by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Smith had also charged Trump with unlawfully holding onto classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after his first term ended in 2021 and obstructing efforts by the U.S. government to retrieve the records.
Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, dismissed all charges in July after finding that Smith was improperly appointed to the role and did not have the authority to bring the case.
The ruling brought an abrupt halt to the case, ensuring there would be no trial before the presidential election.
Smith’s team is appealing the ruling, but Trump’s vow to fire Smith ‘within two seconds’ upon taking office likely signals the end of the case.
Smith is also now said to be in talks with the Justice Department to end both federal prosecutions after spending three years and more than $35million in taxpayer funds trying to bring the 78-year-old to trial.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia have used state racketeering laws, which were developed to fight organized crime, to charge Trump in an alleged conspiracy to reverse his defeat in the battleground state in the 2020 election.
The president-elect will not be able to end the prosecution, but his lawyer have said in court they will seek to pause any activity related to Trump based on an argument that a president should not face the burden of a criminal prosecution while in office.
Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants in the case are also asking a Georgia appeals court to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, over alleged misconduct stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a fellow prosecutor.
Oral arguments are scheduled for December 5.
