Macron Invites Trump to Paris for Bastille Day
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Version 0 of 1. PARIS — They have had their differences, but when President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Trump spoke by telephone on Tuesday about the threat of a new chemical weapons attack by Syria, Mr. Macron seized the opportunity and invited Mr. Trump to Paris for Bastille Day. It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump would accept the invitation, which was also extended to his wife, Melania, according to a statement from the Élysée Palace. But the traditional military parade in Paris on this Bastille Day, July 14, will also commemorate the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I to fight alongside the French, British and other Allies. While relations between French and American leaders have been marked by friendship and friction since then, Mr. Macron and Mr. Trump got off to a rocky start. During the French presidential election, Mr. Trump did little to conceal his preference for Mr. Macron’s chief opponent, Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front. And when the two presidents met for the first time, in Brussels during a NATO summit meeting on May 25, they engaged in the now-famous extended handshake. Even though they kept smiling, their knuckles turned white from the powerful grip. Later that day, at another gathering, Mr. Trump seized Mr. Macron’s hand. And after Mr. Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, Mr. Macron strongly defended the accord. “I can assure you,” he said in English, “France will not give up the fight.” He capped off those remarks with a twist on the Trump campaign slogan: “Make our planet great again.” In February, during the presidential campaign, he posted a video inviting American climate scientists to move to France since “your new president” is “extremely skeptical about climate change.” But during the final stages of the contest against Ms. Le Pen, Mr. Macron avoided attacking the American president directly. Since then, he has been more optimistic about Europe’s ability to work with Mr. Trump than some of his European counterparts, like the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. “In terms of the fight against terrorism, he has the same drive for efficiency that I do,” Mr. Macron said in an interview with a group of European newspapers last week. He added, “I don’t share some of his choices, above all on the climate issue.” They are to meet again at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany, which begins on July 7 — a week before Bastille Day. |