Every Wednesday morning, in the Murat lounge in the Élysée, the two men meet in the Council of Ministers. A handshake, and most often a formal exchange. “Between them, it is neither cold nor hot. Bruno is someone high, but we feel that distrust has set up ”slides a minister. Behind civility, deaf tension settles. As Bruno Retailleau unrolls his agenda, without taking into account the moods of the Élysée. A way of acting the helplessness of a president at the end of the reign, who has little means of pressure on his Minister of the Interior – what is more, party leader.
New episode this weekend, the Minister of the Interior is attacking the diplomatic line of the Élysée, accused of letting Boualem Sansal Croupir for 246 days in an Algerian prison. “The diplomacy of good feelings failed”he says in Le Figarocalling for “A balance of power” with Algiers. A warning stroke which also targets Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who knew him dryly on X: “There is no diplomacy of good feelings or diplomacy of resentment. There is just diplomacy. »»
Staphyl
Loyal in appearance, Bruno Retailleau takes over his distances more and more. By small carefully dosed estafilades. The fracture widens day by day. “Bruno will be expressed more and more often in the coming weeks. There, it is Algeria; Yesterday, the end of life or the energy; Tomorrow will be the budget ”warns a loved one. And to add, without detour: “We are no longer in demanding coexistence. We are in cohabitation. »»
“To be free, you have to be feared,” slips the minister, quoting the president
The presidential entourage has taken note, for several weeks, of the emancipation of Retailleau. “The relatives of the head of state have stopped saying good of him”note a minister. A sequence that can recall another: when Emmanuel Macron, a young Minister of the Economy, emancipated under the helpless gaze of François Hollande, ignoring the supported reframing of Manuel Valls. Retailleau, in a more polite style, takes care not to weaken the presidential function. Out of the question to claim the departure of Emmanuel Macron, even less to slam the door. “It would be a victory to the Algerian regime”he justifies.
But, in fact, he follows a parallel road, installs, in small touches, a posture. He speaks as a free minister of any attachment, thinks as a presidential. Without however assuming it publicly, saying that he did not “The presidential virus”but promising “Do everything to win the right” in 2027. Everything is a matter of dosage and innuendo: “To be free, you have to be feared”he slides, citing … Emmanuel Macron himself.
