If Bonn leaves (his resignation had not been accepted as of Monday evening), Macron would take office without one of his most trusted foreign policy advisers as he prepares to navigate a world order rife with instability and dominated by Donald Trump. It will. He becomes President of the United States next week.
“This is a mess,” said one former French diplomat. “The domestic political situation, an impossible budget deal, future relations with Trump and Algeria, France’s declining influence in Europe and Africa… “We will have to work hard to recover.”
It is an open secret in Paris that Bonn is looking for a new position after five years at Macron’s side. But Macron appears to have been forced to leave as his relationship with the president’s chief of staff, General Fabien Mendon, became increasingly strained, according to two people close to Macron. According to one of them, Mandon has been “encroaching on (Bonne’s) territory” even though he was appointed less than two years ago.
“There has been a fierce rivalry between the two for a long time,” said another, citing differences in attitude as well as “probably over practical issues.”
Tensions between the two aides reached a peak last week ahead of the French president’s meeting with Keir Starmer at the British prime minister’s villa, Checkers.
According to the first individual quoted above, Bonne and Mandon experienced a “commotion” hours before their departure for England on Thursday afternoon. At the last minute, Bonne decided to skip the trip, the person told POLITICO.
