Trump Hits Paris, Paris Hits Back

Image: PHOTO: Paris is doing just fine, Mr. President. Love, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. (Courtesy Flickr/Ville de Montreal (Courtesy Flickr/Ville de Montreal)
Image: PHOTO: Paris is doing just fine, Mr. President. Love, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. (Courtesy Flickr/Ville de Montreal (Courtesy Flickr/Ville de Montreal)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 5:55 PM ET, Fri February 24, 2017

In a textbook example of beautifully trolling the current king of social media, the mayor of Paris today used Twitter to fire back at President Donald Trump after he insulted the French city in a speech.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, the president meandered in his speech once again, this time invoking his friend "Jim" - no last name, no context - to trash the City of Light.

Trump was hammering home the point about immigration during his speech, saying "Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they cannot get into our country," and using France as one of his examples, although as one publication noted, he seemed blithely unaware that terrorism across Europe in recent years has come mostly from native-born extremists rather than immigrants.

Trump the implied that terrorist attacks have changed Europe and said: "Take a look at Nice and Paris. I have a friend, he's a very, very substantial guy. He loves the City of Lights, he loves Paris. For years every year during the summer, he would go to Paris. It was automatic with him and his family. Hadn't seen him in a while, and I said, 'Jim let me ask you a question: How's Paris doing?'"

Trump then said that his friend Jim replied, "Paris? I don't go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris."

It didn't take long for Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo to fire back, saying via tweet: "To @realDonaldTrump and his friend Jim, in @LaTourEiffel we celebrate the dynamism and the spirit of openness of #Paris with Mickey & Minnie."

The mayor also noted that reservations this year by American tourists to visit Paris were up 30 percent compared to the same time period in 2016.

[READMORE]READ MORE: Tourism In Paris Improving Despite Rough 2016 [/READMORE]

It's not the first time Trump has used a friend as a political barometer. Two weeks ago, the President told a gathering of airline and aviation executives that his personal pilot - no name, no context - told him that the industry was a mess.


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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