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Ishaan Tharoor
Reporter covering foreign affairs, geopolitics and history
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(Ludovic Marin)
Even before landing, Trump provoked controversy by attacking French President Emmanuel Macron following comments by Macron on international security.
Then, on Saturday, Trump ignored a planned visit to the American cemetery of Aisne-Marne, which pays tribute to American soldiers killed at the Battle of Belleau Wood – because of the rain in Paris. This decision provoked a furious reaction from American commentators and observers who said elsewhere that bad weather should not have prevented Trump from doing his job. A host of other leaders and dignitaries, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, braved the elements to honor them.
"Rain was a recurring topic on the Western Front," said Tobias Ellwood, Conservative British MP and Minister of Veterans Affairs. in a tweet. "Fortunately, that did not stop our brave heroes from doing their job."
On Sunday, Trump – along with Russian President Vladimir Putin – skipped a parade of dozens of world leaders who marched together on the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. The symbolism was not lost in the press. Then, close to this famous landmark, Macron delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump's "America First" agenda.
"Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism" Macron said. "By giving priority to our own interests, without regard to others, we are erasing what is most dear to a nation and what keeps it alive: its moral values."
It does not matter "Bromance" once existed between Trump and his French counterpart long gone, no matter some polished tweets shared this weekend. Trump has withdrawn from both the Paris climate agreement and the Iranian nuclear deal, ignoring Macron's efforts to persuade him otherwise. He encouraged the rise of right-wing populists throughout Europe, including Macron's national rivals. Meanwhile, the French president deliberately opposed Trump.
"I think [Macron] has dropped any illusion about Trump that flattering him would be a way to get concessions, "said The Post Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution. "But he hesitates to back down because he does not know what it will bring him. It's a cautious realism. "
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Macron insisted that his beliefs were not those of the "globalist" caricature evoking a jet evoked by Trump and his far-right counterparts in Europe, but rather those of a pragmatic internationalist aware of common challenges. facing world leaders.
"I would say that I am a patriot. I believe that our people are very important and that the French are different from the Germans. … But I'm not a nationalist, "said Macron. "I strongly believe in cooperation between different peoples and I strongly believe that this cooperation is good for everyone, where the nationalists are sometimes much more based on a unilateral approach and the law of the strongest. which is not my case. It's probably our difference.
It is in this belief that German Chancellor Angela Merkel joins Macron – arguably the most important figure of the Establishment in Europe, but a diminished leader now clearly at the twilight of her career. "It's easy to destroy institutions, but it's incredibly difficult to build," said Merkel on Sunday, once again defending the international order following the Second World War, which guaranteed Europe much of its peace and prosperity.
On Saturday, Macron and Merkel went to Compiegne, where the armistice ending the First World War was signed – and where Hitler imposed the surrender of France in 1940. On a site of national victory and defeat for two countries, they mobilized for unity.
But such an emotional scene may not reflect the spirit of the present.. Like Macron, Merkel warned against the need for Europe to strengthen collectively in the face of the unreliable situation of the United States. Yet both leaders are subjected to tough political tests at home.
Macron's approval ratings have dropped to record levels in recent months. A survey conducted last week has placed the centrist Macron ruling party behind the French far right ahead of the European Parliament elections next year. And Merkel's announcement that she would not seek re-election to the German chancellor was seen as a mark of the decline of liberal centrism on the continent.
As the far right and the left grow stronger, European leaders struggle to find common ground on issues ranging from monetary policy to immigration and how to cope with the Kremlin .
"Europeans are too deeply divided between themselves, and on fundamentals," said my colleague James McAuley Dominique Moïsi, a foreign policy analyst at the Montaigne Institute in Paris and former Macron campaign advisor. "He is weakened by the fact that he is an orphan of Merkel and weakened by the dramatic downfall of his popularity."
Analysts suggest that these divisions – and its own domestic difficulties – hinder Macron's attempts for global leadership. "There is a clear north-south divide on the euro crisis and an east-west divide on migration and Russia," said Mark Leonard of the European Council of Foreign Relations at The Post. "You also have very polarized companies in most of the Member States, which means that having a single European leader is a kind of utopia."
As part of the jokes of the visit, Macron declared his "great solidarity" with Trump. But the real link they share may be just that of presidents fighting in difficult conditions.
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