The U.S. on Tuesday moved to assuage outrage in France and elsewhere over a “worldwide” ask that companies dealing with U.S. embassies sign an anti-DEI pledge.

A French minister on Sunday accused U.S. diplomats of interfering in the operations of French companies by sending them a letter reportedly telling them that U.S. President Donald Trump's rollback of diversity,

Elon Musk's tirade about the embezzlement conviction of extremist politician Marine Le Pen has garnered millions of views in just hours.

France still hopes Europe will avoid a trade war with the United States but it would reply with reciprocal measures if tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump went ahead on Wednesday, said commerce and trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin.

A French politician has suggested the U.S. is no longer worthy of keeping the Statue of Liberty. Raphaël Glucksmann is a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party.

Virgin Atlantic, which made $1.3 billion from the U.S. last year, is seeing a decline in demand from Americans.

Officials in France have said they will reject US calls for French companies to desist from using diversity programs. The foreign trade minister said the demands were "a further step in American extra-territoriality.

The likely implementation of tariffs imposed by the United States on April 2 should mark the beginning of a march towards independence for Europe, European Central Bank (ECB) head Christine Lagarde said on Monday.