A 29-second handshake ... and the protests that never happened!
For one moment, it looked as if he would never go. Donald Trump had Emmanuel Macron by the hand, not so much shaking it as apprehending its owner.
At one point yesterday, the French President almost lost his balance as Mr Trump’s vice-like grip persisted while the pair of them walked across the Place de la Concorde.
It then flipped upwards, morphing into an arm wrestle, whereupon Mr Trump used his other hand to grab Madame Macron.
Political analysts are so fascinated by Mr Trump’s handshakes that it’s only a matter of time before someone does a PhD on the subject.
Yesterday’s departure from Paris was a collector’s item. But it was also emblematic of a gentle shift in transatlantic relations, one which does no favours to Britain.
For France can certainly congratulate itself on a new, enhanced rapport with the most powerful man in the world.
Yesterday, the two leaders watched an extraordinary Bastille Day parade featuring American troops and US Air Force jets.
It took as its central theme the centenary of the USA’s entry in to the First World War on the Allied side. Note that there was no mention of any other Allies yesterday.
To listen to Messrs Macron and Trump this week, the Great War was fought and won entirely by the French and Americans.
of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the rest, we heard not a squeak.
Just as the French government has been making a huge fuss of the US President, so the French public have followed suit.
As Air Force one took off from orly Airport yesterday afternoon, French police reported that the total number of arrests in connection with the Trump visit had been, er, zero.
With great chunks of the Metro system closed for the parade, I had to walk miles to get to my perch opposite the presidential grandstand yesterday morning. Not once did I hear a single chant or heckle, let alone spot a disobliging placard. I couldn’t even see any relevant graffiti in a city that has more than its fair share.
The French are past-masters at protest and rioting. But aside from a small anti-Trump rally on the other side of Paris, he has been made very welcome.
France might have very clear, very public differences with Mr Trump over his ripping up of the Paris climate accord but, equally, it has been very pleased to have him in Paris, showering his hosts with compliments about the people, food, architecture and, above all, France’s historic (and revolutionary) ties to the US.
BrITAINshould, by now, have started sketching a plan for Mr Trump’s state visit, originally scheduled for this autumn. This week’s faultlessly majestic welcome for the King of Spain shows precisely the sort of thing which the Queen, her royal Mews and her Household Cavalry do so well.
However, the relentless, corrosive mockery and name-calling directed at Mr Trump by Britain’s liberal establishment and Leftist screechers has not gone unnoticed in Washington. For all the splendour of a carriage-ride with the Queen, its appeal had rather lost its shine given the prospect of protesters hurling abuse at Britain’s most important ally over past remarks about women and immigration.
While it is deemed perfectly acceptable for Labour politicians like as John ‘ lynch the bitch’ McDonnell to make crude remarks about women in public, it is not acceptable for an American presi-
dent to make them in private 12 years before taking office. So, the Trump visit has now been nudged back to next year or beyond.
That we have missed a trick was abundantly clear as we watched Mr Trump lapping up the pageantry yesterday.
That, after all, is something Britain does better than anyone. But the French do it very well, too.
This was a parade on a scale we never see in Britain. In fact, you would probably have to go to Moscow or North Korea to see something similar. For the best part of two hours, every uniformed element of the French state came marching down the ChampsElysees to Place de la Concorde – in their thousands.
We had tanks, missile launchers, Napoleonic cavalry units, armoured cars, fire engines and motorbikes along with two entirely separate flypasts – one fixed wing, one for helicopters – and many, many bands. The two presidents spoke animatedly throughout, no doubt swapping notes on military hardware, though the occasion seemed less enthralling for the two First Ladies, placed on either side.
Once again, Melania Trump was in another long dress, by Valentino, while Brigitte Macron’s hemlines just keep on rising above the knee. Any higher and yesterday’s outfit might have qualified as a miniskirt.
The loudest cheers were for the Foreign Legion bringing up the rear at their famously slow pace (88 steps a minute, whereas the other units were doing 120).
Mr Trump was on his feet clapping every last contingent, including prison officers, the police cadets and even a unit of French customs officers.
Interestingly, the douaniers not only had their own regimental standard but they also carried rifles with fixed bayonets. You don’t find a lot of those at HM Customs and Excise.