Dinner over, Trump and France’s Macron to get down to business

After a friendly dinner at a US landmark, US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron were to get down to business Tuesday on divisive issues like the Iran nuclear accord and international trade.

They were to meet face to face for half an hour, and then again for an hour in a broader meeting with more aides – the climax of Macron’s three-day state visit to Washington.

Before getting the full red carpet treatment at the White House on Monday – payback for wooing Trump with military parades and a dazzling Eiffel Tower dinner in Paris last July – Macron took an impromptu stroll to the Lincoln Memorial with his wife Brigitte.

Hailing the “very important” visit, Macron then rolled into the West Wing from Lafayette Square – named after the storied French general who fought in America’s war for independence – beneath dozens of fluttering tricolor French flags and before a full US military color guard.

Waiting at the door, the US president smiled and held out his hand for Macron to shake, and the French leader kissed him on both cheeks.

Later, the first couples had dinner at Mount Vernon, the mansion that was the home of George Washington, the first US president.

They talked about the state of the US economy, Trump’s approval rating, the mid-term elections in November in the US, internet regulation and the fight against Islamist terror, according to the French leader’s office.

Trump is deeply unpopular in France and Macron, like other world leaders – from Japan’s Shinzo Abe to Britain’s Theresa May – is under growing pressure to show voters the benefits of his courtship with the 71-year-old Republican.

Looming over it all are two May deadlines that have the potential to wreck already fragile trans-Atlantic relations.

Biting trade sanctions on European steel and aluminum will enter into force on May 1 unless Trump agrees to sign a waiver. If he refuses, there are fears of a full-fledged trade war.