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It was only a few months ago, in December last year, that French President Emmanuel Macron was seen as the new leader of Europe in Washington, standing “shoulder to shoulder” with President Joe Biden, as a Washington Post headline put it. The newspaper added: “With Angela Merkel gone, and the UK running through prime ministers like Kleenex, Macron looks like the de facto leader of Europe.” That was before his latest trip to China.

The French president was accused of “betrayal” by Republican leaders and the media talked about the “outrage” that Macron faces from allies over his comments in an interview to two newspapers — one American, Politico, and the French Les Echos — during his flight home from China.

President Macron “shocked” Washington when he told the journalists, after meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, that Europe must reduce its dependency on the US and not become America’s followers. He said: “If the tensions between the two superpowers heat up … we won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals.”

But the comments that Washington considered “worrisome” were those related to Taiwan, with Macron suggesting that the security of Taiwan was not the problem of a Europe that must resist becoming America’s “vassals.” He said: “The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction.” Macron added: “Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine; how can we credibly say on Taiwan, ‘watch out, if you do something wrong, we will be there?’ If you really want to increase tensions, that’s the way to do it.”

The comparison with the Ukraine conflict irked the Americans and Europeans the most and some saw them as lowering deterrence against China, although he was realistic in his assessment of the situation, according to European experts.

The US political reaction to Macron’s comments seemed to straddle party lines, with the Republicans leading the charge against him and the Democrats trying to play them down.

The first reaction came from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who asked in a tweet if the French president speaks for Europe, noting that the US “is spending a lot of taxpayer money on a European war.” He warned: “If Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is they’re not going to pick sides between the US and China over Taiwan … maybe we should basically say we’re going to focus on Taiwan and the threats that China poses, and you guys handle Ukraine and Europe.”

Some lawmakers even called on the US to “reassess its posture toward France,” as Rep. Chris Smith described Macron’s statement as a “seeming betrayal of democratic Taiwan.” Other Republican lawmakers saw Macron’s statements as “geopolitically naive,” as Rep. Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on China, said on Fox News.

The White House, in contrast, expressed confidence in the relationship with France and hailed “a terrific bilateral cooperation.” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “We’re focused on making sure that together we’re meeting the national security requirements of both countries.”

Dr. Amal Mudallali is an American policy and international relations analyst.