The bromance of Trump and Macron
● Ceremony opens day of talks on future of Iran deal and Syrian crisis
US president Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, share a joke at the beginning of their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House yesterday, which is part of a state visit.
Praising the strength of America’s oldest alliance, US president Donald Trump welcomed French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to the White House with a pompfilled ceremony on the South Lawn.
It opened a day of talks yesterday on the future of the Iran nuclear deal and the crisis in Syria. Mr Trump said the partnership he forged with Mr Macron at the start of his presidency was a testament to the “enduring friendship that binds our two nations”.
He thanked the French leader for his “steadfast partnership” during the recent missile strike in response to the chemical attack in Syria.
Mr Macron told Mr Trump that together the US and France would defeat terrorleaders ism, curtail weapons of mass destruction in North Korea and Iran and act together on behalf of the planet, a reference to Mr Macron’s work to revive a US role in the Paris climate accord.
“History is calling us. It is urging our people to find the fortitude that has guided us in the most difficult of times.”
Mr Macron said. “France and with it, Europe, and the United States have an appointment with history.”
The pageantry of Mr Macron’s official state visit, the first of the Trump presidency, comes Tuesday night with a lavish state dinner at the White House.
About 150 guests are expected to dine on rack of lamb and nectarine tart and enjoy an after-dinner performance by the Washington National Opera.
On Monday, the presidents and their spouses hopped in a helicopter for a tour of Washington landmarks and take a trip up the Potomac River to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s historic riverside home, for a private dinner one night before the sit down for talks on a weighty agenda including security, trade and the Iran nuclear deal.
“This is a great honour and I think a very important state visit given the moment of our current environment,” Mr Macron said on Monday after his plane landed at a US military base near Washington.
Mr Macron’s pomp-filled three-day state visit to Washington highlights the importance that both sides attach to the relationship: Mr Macron, who calls Mr Trump often, has emerged as something of a “Trump whisperer” at a time when the American president’s relationships with other European leaders are more strained.
Mr Trump, who attaches great importance to the optics of pageantry and ceremony, chose to honour Mr Macron with the first state visit of his administration as he woos the French president.
For all their camaraderie, Mr Macron and Mr Trump disagree on fundamental issues, including the multinational nuclear deal, which is aimed at restricting Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump, sceptical of the pact’s effectiveness, has been eager to pull out as a 12 May deadline nears.
Mr Macron says he is not satisfied with the situation in Iran and thinks the agreement is imperfect, but he has argued for the US sticking with the deal on the grounds that there is not yet a Plan B.
The Trumps and Macrons helped plant a tree on the White House grounds together before boarding Mr Trump’s Marine One helicopter for a scenic tour of monuments built in the capital city designed by Frenchborn Pierre L’enfant as they flew south to Mount Vernon, the first US president’s home along the Potomac River.
The young oak is an environmentally friendly gift to the White House from Mr Macron, and one that also bears historical significance. It sprouted at a First World War site in France, the Battle of Belleau Wood, that became part of US Marine Corps lore.