Emmanuel Macron to American students : it's up to you!| Campus France

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Before a thousand students at George Washington University in the U.S. capital Emmanuel Macron closed what was the first state visit by a foreign leader to the United States since the election of Donald Trump. Explaining “what it means to be French,” Macron lauded the spirit of enterprise.

As he had done previously before audiences of Indian and African students, the French president engaged in an open-ended, hour-long question-and-answer session with the students on Wednesday, April 25, speaking in English on a wide range of current topics.

Many of the topics were international: the situation in the Middle East and Syria, the worldwide fight against disease, relations with China, the Dalai Lama, Europe’s destiny, climate change
Others were very French: the French national railways and the right to strike, immigration, antisemitism, gender equality, and French as a world language.

Speaking in the manner of a professor or mentor, Macron did not refrain from offering some personal recommendations: “My advice, if you will permit me: first listen to your teachers—you need a framework; and develop your own judgment.” The president went on to urge his young audience not to “go along with anything that seems sanctimonious or preachy; your generation must decide for itself what it wants.”

Concluding the session, the president sought to deliver a message on the problem of climate change. Evoking what he called “this major challenge, regardless of the direction taken by the American government,” he told the group “we are going to have to find solutions.” In so doing, he urged young Americans to get involved and to be enterprising: “Your generation will make its own decisions.” Climate change “will be part of the challenge of your generation,” he concluded, asking his listeners to strive “for an equitable society, an equitable environment. Our generation will not be able to solve everything, but we are giving you the means to get there.”