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Storm over Trump 'you're in good shape' comment to Brigitte Macron

On a tour of the Hôtel des Invalides military complex in Paris during his two-day state visit to France, accompanied by his wife Melania and French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, US President Donald Trump was filmed telling the latter, who is aged 64, 'You’re in such good shape' and insisting to Macron 'She’s in such good physical shape'.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Donald Trump has been heavily criticised after passing comment on the physical appearance of France’s first lady during his first state visit to the country, reports The Guardian.

Standing in the marbled hall of the the Hôtel national des Invalides in Paris on Thursday, Trump was filmed looking Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French president, admiringly up and down.

“You’re in such good shape,” the US president told her. He then turned to her husband, newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron, who was standing beside him, and repeated: “She’s in such good physical shape.”

Looking back to the first lady of France, Trump nodded approvingly once more and added: “Beautiful.” Her response was unclear, but she appeared to take Trump’s wife, Melania, by the arm and step slightly backwards.

The comments came after a tour of the Hôtel des Invalides, home to the tombs of Napoleon Bonaparte and other French military heroes, by the two couples, and was caught on live video posted to the French presidency’s Facebook page.

It is not the first time Trump has been criticised for making remarks about women’s physical appearance, including the looks of former presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina, comedian Rosie O’Donnell, media figure Ariana Huffington and models Kim Kardashian and Heidi Klum.

See more of this report, with video, from The Guardian.