Jean sought a mandate for a second four-year term at the 2018 Francophonie Summit in Armenia, however, France and eventually Canada supported the consensus candidate, Rwandan foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo. Jean has been criticized for expenses such as spending $500,000 to renovate her Paris apartment, a $50,000 bill for four nights at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria hotel, the acquisition of a $20,000 piano and the $1-million price tag for a youth-engagement program carried out aboard the replica of a historic 18th century ship, the "Hermione".