Trump, Macron cement bromance on Bastille Day
PARIS — With a warm clasping of hands, President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron cemented an unlikely but budding relationship Friday, capped by a Bastille Day military parade meant to emphasize the alliance between the United States and its oldest ally.
Despite some wariness in the initial contacts between Trump, 71, and Macron — who at 39 is the same age as Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. — the American leader’s two-day visit to France ended on a high note.
Trump had publicly supported Macron’s far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen, in France’s presidential elections. Trump and Macron have sharply differing views on a range of issues, most notably the Paris accord, the climate change pact that Trump renounced six weeks ago.
But Macron and his wife, Brigitte, beguiled Trump and his wife, Melania, with redcarpet treatment and catered to Trump’s well-known penchant for military displays of power, which were woven into the Bastille Day parade they attended before flying home. It was Trump’s first visit to France as president.
The two presidential couples celebrated their new relationship over dinner at the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower on Thursday night, where a filet of beef was likely the most appealing item on the menu for Trump.
Around 10 a.m. Friday, Trump and Macron arrived for the Bastille Day festivities in their motorcades. There were gasps from some attendees as Melania Trump emerged from the presidential limousine, her white dress with green floral print swaying back and forth.
Tanks rolled down the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe framed behind them, memorializing the storming of the Bastille that helped set off the French Revolution. The parade also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I.
Trump sat between his wife and Macron on the presidential viewing stand, an overhang shading them from the baking sun. Trump talked excitedly to Macron as a variety of World War I-era tanks rolled to a stop near the viewing stand.
Trump’s joy appeared to crest when warplanes made their appearance. He could be seen gesticulating and whispering to Macron as an array of jets thundered past.
After two hours, the parade wound down with a musical interlude, including one honoring the victims of the attack in Nice a year ago.
Macron and Trump stepped off the viewing stand, accompanied by their wives. They repeatedly grabbed each other’s arms, gripping hands for several moments before parting.