President Donald Trump teased Emmanuel Macron after praising him as a "tough president" who would keep France safe, saying Thursday "you'd better do a good job" or Trump would look bad.
At a joint press conference for the two heads of state, a reporter confronted Trump with prior remarks he made that suggested Paris, France, was infected by terrorism and no longer safe due to the French government's lax attitude toward letting foreigners enter their country.
"Do you still believe that France is not able to fight terrorism on its own territory?" the reporter asked.
Trump called the question "a beauty."
"It's going to be just fine, because you have a great president," Trump said. "You have somebody that's going to run this country right ... You have a tough president. He's not going to be easy on people that are breaking the laws and people that show this tremendous violence, so I really have a feeling that you're going to have a very peaceful and beautiful Paris. And I'm coming back."
Trump paused and looked over at Macron.
"You'd better do a good job, please. Otherwise you're going to make me look very bad," he said, smiling.
"And you're always welcome," Macron said.
Trump is in France at Macron's invitation to celebrate Bastille Day and the historic alliance between France and the United States.