US special envoy’s Élysée comment sparks diplomatic cringe

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has left French diplomats visibly stunned with a remark comparing the Élysée Palace to Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. 

The comment was made during a high-level meeting between American, French, and Ukrainian officials held in the Salon des Ambassadeurs, one of the most ornate rooms in the Élysée, adorned with gilded paneling and 18th-century chandeliers, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“You know what this looks like?” Witkoff said, motioning toward the room’s opulent décor. “This actually looks like President Trump’s club at Mar-a-Lago.”

Intended as a lighthearted icebreaker, the comparison was met with awkward smiles and strained laughter from both sides.

Witkoff continued, praising the president’s personal involvement in the design of his Palm Beach estate. “It’s fabulous what it looks like,” he added. “He’s like an architect or a designer.”

French officials, however, were less than amused. According to sources close to the delegation, they were taken aback by the likening of a centuries-old neoclassical building - whose construction predates the founding of the US - to what they perceived as the embodiment of tacky Florida chic.

By Naila Huseynova