Can Macron win top billing with Trump?

Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, reportedly once asked: “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” As we now know, for the current US administration the answer is Emmanuel Macron. The French president will today become the first foreign leader accorded a state visit to Washington since Donald Trump arrived in the White House. He will address a joint session of Congress and enjoy the rare honour of dining with the US leader and his wife at George Washington’s mansion, Mount Vernon.

Mr Trump appears eager to reciprocate for the welcome he received in France last year when he was invited to attend the official Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, with all the pomp and circumstance that entails, and to dine at the Eiffel Tower. Personal relationships matter in diplomacy, as in business, and especially so to Mr Trump, it seems. He got on well enough with Theresa May when she became the first overseas leader to visit after his inauguration, and he was invited to the UK last year. That trip was postponed because of political hostility to the American president here, which the French have sensibly risen above.

But this is more than just a goodwill visit or the further advancement of President Macron’s self-confident push to make France the leading power in Europe. There are major issues to be discussed, notably Iran and trade. On the former, Mr Trump is threatening to pull the plug next month on the deal brokered by Washington and the EU to constrain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which he had denounced during his presidential campaign. Egged on by Israel and now by John Bolton, his new National Security Adviser, the US leader is heading for a clash that Mr Macron will seek to avert, while sharing Mr Trump’s concerns about Iran’s intentions in the region.

The French president has a favour to call in, of course. After committing France to the recent action against Syria, he claims to have persuaded Mr Trump not to turn his back on the Middle East at such a critical moment. Mr Macron is also acting as Europe’s emissary to convince the American government that imposing tariffs on EU goods as part of a wider trade war with China would be bad for both economic blocs. His skill in managing the mercurial US president will determine whether his number will still be in the White House phone book at the end of the visit.