«The man with a trillion dollars. The nickname clings to him like a second identity. France’s public debt has exceeded the threshold of 3 trillion euros, nearly a third of which was accumulated under his successive mandates at Bercy. His opponents have dubbed him »the man with 1 trillion dollars,« a formula that sums up seven years of economic policy in a simple and effective attack.
He defends himself vehemently. In front of the MPs, Bruno Le Maire blamed this deterioration on the various episodes that have shaken the French economy over the last four years: «All of us, all of us! During the Covid crisis, during the inflation crisis, you asked me to spend much more. All of us, without exception. You cannot, for three years, silence the Finance Minister, then return two years later and say that I have not kept the accounts well enough.»
The reality, as often is the case, is more nuanced.
According to the French Observatory of Economic Conditions, crises account for between half and two-thirds of the increase in public debt since 2017. The rest comes from permanent budgetary decisions, a drop in the income tax, and the abolition of the housing tax and the ISF, which have increased the debt by approximately 120 to 170 billion euros, according to estimates. Far from the billions cited by its detractors, but not insignificant either.
Having just left Bercy in September 2024, Le Maire had managed to organize his transition with remarkable efficiency. Three months after leaving the Ministry of the Economy, the executive committee of the Dutch group ASML announced his recruitment as an «external strategic advisor» starting January 1, 2025. Valued at nearly 290 billion euros on the stock exchange, ASML manufactures production machines for the hyper-growth semiconductor industry. The former minister was to help the group «build a coalition to invest in the European semiconductor ecosystem.».
This golden opportunity for a career change has come to an end. Bruno Le Maire is no longer an advisor at ASML, a spokesperson for the group confirmed to Reuters. He was on the verge of becoming Minister of Defense in the Lecornu government, which collapsed just a few hours after his appointment. This tragicomic episode alone illustrates the institutional chaos of 2025 France. He thus became the fifth Republic’s most temporary minister, serving for only one day, breaking a record previously held by Léon Schwartzenberg in 1988 and Thomas Thévenoud in 2014.
In January 2026, Bruno Le Maire was recruited as a senior advisor by the American consulting firm Macro Advisory Partners, based in New York and specializing in geopolitical and economic issues for multinationals and international institutions.
The commission of inquiry: a revealing lynching
In late April 2026, Le Maire was summoned to the National Assembly in a completely different context. During a tense hearing, Bruno Le Maire accused the rapporteur of the commission of inquiry into speculative funds, Aurélie Trouvé (LFI), of «lies» and accused her of turning this body into a «political tribunal». The MP questioned the former Minister of the Economy’s actions, denouncing the «absence of regulation» and the «tax benefits» that these funds would have benefited from during his years in the ministry.
Bruno Le Maire began the hearing by vigorously defending his record: «Without capital, no companies, and without companies, no prosperity. We risk missing the major turning points of the 21st century because of a lack of capital.» He also called La France insoumise a «party of head-chopping.» Two worldviews that clashed for two and a half hours without any possible reconciliation.
Alongside the controversies, Le Maire is writing another chapter. In 2026, he will publish » Le temps d’une décision » (Time for a Decision) in Gallimard’s publishing house, his fifteenth work, a ministerial record that his detractors in the Senate have never stopped mocking. Between his classes in Lausanne and his advisory activities, Bruno Le Maire is publishing a book that marks his return to the political arena, hiding behind false modesty as a candidate who does not want to take responsibility. « I remain a loyal person; I do not even attack Emmanuel Macron in my book », he tempers, before asserting his independence: « I was not born into politics with Macron or with Chirac.»
The message is clear for anyone who can read between the lines: Bruno Le Maire is repositioning himself.
A candidate in ambush for 2027?
Bruno Le Maire spoke about the 2027 presidential election: «What worries me is that debates about personalities take precedence over debates about ideas. If we continue with a president at the center of everything, with ministers as numerous as overloaded classes, a Parliament that legislates instead of controlling, and communes under tutelage, we will get the same results.» These words sound less like the analysis of an observer than like the outline of a program.
He is also taking unexpected positions for a former champion of liberalism. The former resident of Bercy aspires to a redesign of the economic model and now advocates a rise in the Smic: «I am in favor of a rise in the Smic for reasons of justice and economic efficiency. There is a problem with wages in France, with the remuneration of labor.» A shift toward economic center-leftism that betrays a clear tactical reconfiguration.
Bruno Le Maire is not a candidate. Not yet. But in the France of 2026, where the presidential landscape is as open as it is unpredictable, a normal Parisian, former Minister of the Economy who has held the post of the Republic’s longest-serving leader, who publishes, teaches, advises, and is controversial, is not a man who retires. He is a man who waits.
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