WASHINGTON\/PARIS: US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the world stage on Saturday to join leaders for the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, still a private citizen but already preparing to tackle a host of international crises.
\nIt will be Trump\u2019s first trip overseas since he won the presidential election a month ago and it could offer French President Emmanuel Macron an opportunity to play the role of mediator between Europe and the unpredictable US politician, a role the French leader has relished in the past.
\nThe two are expected to meet on the sidelines of Saturday\u2019s visit. While no agenda for their talks has been announced, European leaders are concerned that Trump could withdraw US military aid to Ukraine at a crucial juncture in its war to repel Russian invaders.
\nMacron is a strong supporter of the NATO alliance and Ukraine\u2019s fight, while Trump feels European nations need to pay more for their common defense and that a negotiated settlement is needed to end the Ukraine war.
\n\u201cMr. Macron is repeating his personalized approach which had some limited success during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term. Macron knows Mr. Trump greatly appreciates the pomp, circumstance and grandeur of state and he provides it to him in abundance,\u201d said Heather Conley, senior adviser to the board of the German Marshall Fund, which promotes US-European ties.
\nTrump will join dozens of world leaders and foreign dignitaries for the ceremony reopening Notre-Dame Cathedral 5-1\/2 years after it was ravaged by fire.
\nIt was unclear whether Trump would meet other leaders besides Macron. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for details.
\nWhile Trump is due to be sworn in as US president only on Jan. 20, he has already held discussions with a number of world leaders, and members of his team are trying to get up to speed on a burgeoning number of world crises, including Ukraine and the Middle East.
\nTrump\u2019s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, met on Wednesday in Washington with Ukraine envoy Andriy Yermak, leading to speculation that a meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky might be in the offing in Paris.
\nTrump, a Republican, was in power when Notre-Dame burned in 2019. He lost his 2020 reelection bid to Democrat Joe Biden but on Nov. 5 defeated Kamala Harris, Biden\u2019s vice president, to win back the presidency.
\n\u201cSymbolically, both Mr. Trump\u2019s presidency and Notre-Dame have been restored in approximately the same time period. His visit to Paris is also the opening salvo of his return to the world stage, further diminishing the final days of the Biden administration,\u201d Conley said.
\nBiden\u2019s wife, first lady Jill Biden, will represent the United States at the Notre-Dame reopening.<\/p>\n
GLOBAL SPECTACLE
\nTrump will get plenty of worldwide buzz standing alongside other world leaders. He visited France four times while president from 2017-2021, including D-Day anniversary ceremonies in 2019.
\n\u201cTrump will be seen throughout the world in potentially a statesman-like position,\u201d said Republican strategist Doug Heye.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not images of him at Mar-a-Lago,\u201d Heye said, referring to the Florida home where Trump has spent the bulk of his time since the election. \u201cThis is the biggest event of the world and he\u2019ll be peer-to-peer with other leaders.\u201d
\nObservers will be watching how Trump and Macron interact. The two men have endured ups and downs in their relationship over the years.
\nMacron invited Trump to the Bastille Day military parade in Paris in July 2017, a spectacle that inspired Trump to order up his own military parade in Washington to mark America\u2019s Independence Day in 2019.
\nTrump hosted Macron at a White House state dinner in 2018 but a year later the two quarreled over comments Macron made about the state of NATO.
\n\u201cTrump coming to Paris is a \u2018good coup\u2019 by Emmanuel Macron,\u201d said Gerard Araud, France\u2019s former ambassador to Washington. \u201cIt is indispensable to have a direct relationship with the only man who counts in the Trump administration, Trump himself.\u201d
\nMacron, who has just over two years left as president, pursued a non-confrontational approach toward Trump during the latter\u2019s first term, hoping that by engaging with him he could win concessions.
\nBut as the years passed, policy decisions on climate, taxation and Iran in particular caused friction between the two leaders. By the end it was a more fractious relationship.
\nClashes most likely lie ahead, fueled by Trump\u2019s desire to impose sweeping tariffs on Europe and other US trade partners, and disagreement over how to handle the Ukraine-Russia conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON\/PARIS: US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the world stage on Saturday to join leaders for the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, still a private citizen but already preparing to tackle a host of international crises. It will be Trump\u2019s first trip overseas since he won the presidential election a month ago and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n