On February 22, France through President Emmanuel Macron officially sent a letter to US President Donald Trump. The core purpose of this diplomatic document is to call on Washington to withdraw sanctions imposed on many influential figures in Europe, notably former European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton and International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Nicolas Guillou.
In the document, Mr. Macron emphasized that this is a personal petition sent to the US leader to review the sanctions. The French President argued that the restrictive measures were imposed completely unfairly. This diplomatic letter was first revealed to the public in the La Tribune Dimanche edition.
Going deeper into each case, the former Breton official has been banned from entering US territory since December 2025. The direct cause stems from his role in establishing regulations controlling digital platforms operating in the EU.
However, the Trump administration views this management move as a serious violation of freedom of speech. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio even condemned the bloc's rules as "blatant extraterritorial censorship".
Refuting this accusation, Mr. Macron affirmed that US sanctions are directly infringing on the EU's privilege in regulating and managing activities within the bloc's borders. The French leader also reaffirmed that European legal frameworks are absolutely not reaching out or intending to impose on US territory.
In the case of Judge Guillou, this official has been blacklisted by the US since August 2025 along with many other ICC judges. The embargo was triggered due to his involvement in the agency issuing an arrest warrant targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The consequence of the punishment was not only depriving Mr. Guillou of the right to enter the US. The French domestic bank of this judge was forced to revoke his payment card based on the US visa system. More seriously, he was completely blocked from accessing online services of the land of stars and stripes such as the Airbnb booking platform or the Amazon e-commerce site.
Faced with this situation, Mr. Macron strongly declared in his letter that US economic leverage is seriously infringing on the sacred independence of the global judicial system.
