‘I’m bored’: book reveals Macron’s messages about EU leaders

Journalist Françoise Degois’s book ‘Vous êtes tous trop durs avec moi’ (‘You’re all too hard on me’), featuring her correspondence with President Emmanuel Macron, is being released in France on 5 November 2026. The published excerpts include an October 2024 message in which he complained of boredom during a European summit in Brussels and wrote that he missed Angela Merkel and Mario Draghi. RTL recounts the episode in its review of the book.

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‘I’m bored. It’s sad and lacks creativity. I miss Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel terribly,’ Macron wrote, according to the excerpt quoted by RTL. He then added that events sometimes weighed on him, but immediately clarified: ‘No, they don’t weigh on me, I never get discouraged, you know.’ This was a private message from two years ago, not a new public address by the president about current EU leaders.

Robert Laffont is publishing the book. According to RTL and Euronews, it draws on two years of exchanges via Telegram; Le Figaro and Marianne read it before publication. Le Figaro published its report on 3 November and updated it on the morning of 4 November.

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According to RTL and Euronews, the correspondence began in summer 2024 after Degois publicly supported Brigitte Macron, who had become the target of conspiracy-driven attacks. The president thanked the journalist, and the exchanges continued on politics. The book covers the dissolution of the National Assembly, the National Rally, relations with Gabriel Attal and Macron’s plans after his presidency.

Publication has sparked a dispute over the boundaries of confidentiality. According to an AFP report carried by Sud Radio on 4 November, Degois acknowledged that she had not sought the president’s permission to make the correspondence public. A source in Macron’s entourage told the agency that they had learned of the book on Monday, three days before its release, and described its substance as consistent with the president’s public statements.

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On 5 November, Degois explained her decision in an interview with Sud Radio. According to the station’s published text, she regards the conversations as political debate rather than friendly or intimate confidences. The journalist said she was publishing the correspondence as a political document and had sent Macron a copy of the book with a note.