Outgoing French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud has compared the Donald Trump administration to the court of King Louis XIV, filled with courtiers trying to interpret the caprices of a "whimsical, unpredictable, uninformed" leader.
Araud, who retired on Friday after a 37 - year career that included some of the top jobs in French diplomacy, told the Guardian that Trump's unpredictability and his single - minded interpretation of US interests was leaving the administration isolated on the global stage.
Talking about the Trump administration, Araud said: "It's like (trying) to analyze the court of Louis XIV.
You have an old king, a bit whimsical, unpredictable, uninformed, but he wants to be the one deciding. "
Like the Sun King who dominated France in the 17th and 18th centuries, Trump "doesn't want to appear under any influence and he wants to show it", according to Araud, who had been France's Ambassador to Washington since 2014.
"When they say 'America first', it's America alone.
Basically, this President and this administration don't have allies, don't have friends.
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