(The picture says it all)
Macron pleaded with Trump on phone to attend Notre Dame reopening
December 3, 2024 at 3:30 PM EST
Emmanuel Macron pleaded with Donald Trumpto attend the grand re-opening of Notre Dame in a long phone call, it has emerged.
Sources close to the French president said he was determined to see Mr Trump in Paris this weekend, when the cathedral opens its doors to the public for the first time since a devastating fire five years ago.
The president-elect will join approximately 50 world leaders and foreign dignitaries including Jill Biden, the First Lady, for a ceremony to celebrate its re-opening.
Mr Macron and Mr Trump spoke about a range of foreign policy issues on Saturday afternoon before agreeing “to continue their discussions on the sidelines of the ceremonies at Notre Dame,” Le Monde reported.
During the call, Mr Macron pleaded with his future American counterpart to attend the service,which the French media has interpreted as a “diplomatic coup”.
European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, are racing to curry favour with Mr Trumpfollowing his landslide election victory on Nov 5.
In a speech on Monday night,Sir Keir promised to “invest more deeply than ever in this transatlantic bond with our American friends,” denying that the UK had to choose between the US and the EU.
Mr Trump’s attendance at the Notre Dame ceremony will be his first foreign trip since his election victory.
His win offers France several diplomatic challenges, including his call for Nato members to increase their defence budgets, and plans to impose blanket tariffs on imported goods from the EU.
Mr Macron’s team must also navigate a protocol problem and decide where Mr Trump is placed in the pecking order of foreign dignitaries.
Gérard Araud, who served as French ambassador to the United States from 2014 to 2019, said on X:“I can’t imagine the headache that Donald Trump’s participation in the Notre Dame ceremony represents for the chief of protocol.(The French never know when to shut up)
“In theory, he should come after all the other official guests. I advise against following the theory.”
Mr Trump’s wife, Melania, first visited Notre Dame with her French counterpart, Brigitte Macron, in 2017, and is expected to return to Paris this weekend.
There was no early indication from the French authorities of how the Trumps will be ranked this time, although they said security would be stepped up significantly.
On trips to Paris during his first administration, Mr Trump was given prime placement at all functions.
That included the Bastille Day Parade and dinner at an Eiffel Tower restaurant.
The Macrons forged a strong relationship with Mr Trump when he was America’s 45th president, between 2017 and 2021.
He showed immense concern in 2019 when the blaze engulfed Notre Dame, collapsing its spire and threatening to destroy the entire Gothic building.
Some 6,000 police and gendarmes will be on duty for the Notre Dame ceremony, while the Ile de la Cité – the island upon which the cathedral sits – will be turned into a fortress, with entry strictly controlled.
Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will preside at the Notre Dame reopening service on Saturday, banging on its doors, before the cathedral is officially reopened.
Mr Macron will attend a mass on Saturday,but will not take Holy Communion because of his position at the top of a secular republicthat does not allow religion in public life.
The Notre Dame celebration comes during a political crisis in France,with Mr Macron’s government facing collapse over its failure to gain parliamentary support for a new social security budget.
Michel Barnier, Mr Macron’s fifth prime minister in seven years, risks losing confidence votes in the National Assembly on Wednesday evening.
An Elysée Palace source said both Joe and Jill Biden received an invitation to the Notre Dame reopening at the end of November,but only Mrs Biden accepted.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/macron-pleaded-trump-phone-attend-203007493.html