Furious Macron dressed down ministers after botched leak of Muslim Brotherhood report

PARIS — A visibly angry Emmanuel Macron blasted his ministers during a defense cabinet meeting Wednesday after a botched release of a report into the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in France, according to a high-ranking government official.

A second official, who, like others quoted here, was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the French president accused his ministers generally for not coming up with adequate solutions to counter the threat posed by the Islamist group.

But the dressing down — first reported by French daily Le Parisien — appears to be a shot across the bow to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

The report into the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood was expected to be published on Wednesday, but its release was delayed by Macron’s office after the document was leaked to conservative media. An early version of the report seen by POLITICO said that the Muslim Brotherhood had gone to great lengths to push its fundamentalist agenda across France and Europe.

Many in the French government have attributed the leak to Retailleau, a hard-line conservative whose popularity has skyrocketed since joining Macron’s minority government in September. Retailleau on Sunday scored a landslide win to become the next leader of the Les Républicains, the historically dominant French center-right party relegated to political purgatory after Macron’s 2017 election upended French politics. Early polling indicates he could be a serious contender in the 2027 presidential election were he to run.

Retailleau had in recent days discussed the report in multiple interviews with French media, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of “trying to tip French society into Sharia law.”

One presidential aide sought to downplay the interior ministry’s role on this issue on Tuesday, insisting that all official decisions would be made at a defense cabinet meetings presided over by Macron.

The government official who recounted the scene to POLITICO said Macron appeared to have a “mood swing” at that meeting.

“I’m not sure that he has understood … that it’s the government that governs” rather than the president, said the official.

The bickering is another sign that the attention of those in power has moved away from Macron toward the wide-open presidential election set to take place in fewer than two years, especially with Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally’s prospects in turmoil after her embezzlement conviction. She has repeatedly professed her innocence and could be allowed to run if an appeals court rules in her favor next year.

Her likely successor, party president Jordan Bardella, said he is ready to step in in case she can’t run, but he is relatively green.

Political circles are already swirling with speculation over when Retailleau will leave the government to formally break with Macron and build his own platform ahead of the presidential election.

Losing Retailleau could be devastating for the precarious government of Prime Minister François Bayrou. The longtime centrist and Macron ally has been able to keep his government together despite lacking a majority and constant infighting — though the government is under increasing strain.