The blossoming bromance of Trump and Macron
Spotlight contest
Afterward, neither man seemed quite ready to head inside. Both waved at the crowd below, with one hand and then two. Macron flashed a thumbs up and patted his heart. Trump saluted and pointed. Finally, they almost simultaneously draped their arms upon the other’s back, as if to ensure that they would exit stage centre in unison, with neither soaking up a second more spotlight than the other.
First Ladies relegated
Like nearly all formulaic bromances, the women — in this case, Trump’s wife, Melania, and Macron’s wife, Brigitte — were relegated to nearsilent supporting roles, to be gazed upon but not really heard. Nonetheless, Melania Trump made the most of her nonspeaking cameos, cutting a resplendent silhouette against the sky. She donned a sleek, solidly white Michael Kors suit and a striking white hat, and seemed to channel Olivia Pope, the heroine of the political drama Scandal.
Ballerinas in action?
Outside in the Rose Garden, back in the Oval Office, and later during their news conference, Trump and Macron continued to find ways to touch. At one point, along the East Colonnade, Trump reached behind him for Macron and the two joined outstretched hands — a scene that seems to capture the graceful agility of two ballerinas rather than two besuited
geopolitical allies engaged in an emotional tug-of-war.
In the news conference, Macron sometimes touched Trump’s arm as he spoke. And when Macron finished his speech, the leaders shook hands, then clasped hands, and then patted hands, before pulling one another close for another hug. Then it was time for yet another cheek kiss, as well as a “This guy!” finger-gun point at Macron from Trump. “I like him a lot,” Trump enthused. Soon, the banner picture on his Twitter account changed to a panorama scene from the morning.
Dandruff diplomacy
There were also moments of clear power dynamics, as when Trump, in the Oval Office, turned to Macron and said that, in a sign of their “very special relationship,” he was even willing to brush something from his suit. “In fact, I’ll get that little piece of dandruff off,” Trump said, using a finger to briskly swipe at Macron’s suit. “We have to make him perfect. He is perfect.”
The interactions throughout the visit, said Patti Wood, a body language expert, largely fall under a category known as “gamesmanship.” In calling out Macron’s alleged dandruff, she said, Trump “did something called primate grooming.”
“It said, ‘We have an intimate relationship, but I’m dominant, I’m the alpha gorilla, I’m going to groom you,’” Wood said. “’But I’m going to criticise you by saying you have dandruff and I’m going to do that on the world stage and see how you handle that.”
The final handshake
As the news conference wrapped up, the two men, as if propelled almost by sheer muscle memory, offered up yet another robust handshake. Then, as they turned to leave, Macron slapped Trump’s back, then eased his hand over to the US president’s right shoulder for a final squeeze as they headed back into the West Wing.
Dinner date
On Tuesday evening, Trump and Macron donned tuxedos and greeted each other at the North Portico of the White House with the traditional French two-cheek kiss before heading with their wives into a lavish state dinner. They gushed over each other during toasts at the affair,
where the Trumps welcomed Macron; his wife, Brigitte; and around 120 other people in the State Dining Room for a meal that included rack of lamb and nectarine tart.