President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shared a handshake outside of Élysée Palace and on the red carpet on Saturday ahead of the nation’s celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. It’s the pair’s first in-person meeting since Trump won last month, and the latest episode in the two world leaders’ tumultuous, on-again-off-again diplomatic relationship.
World leaders are flocking to Paris to honor repairs at the Cathedral, which suffered significant damage after a fire broke out in April of 2019—as people watched on their screens from every corner of the globe. All told, nearly $900 million was raised through donations from 340,000 donors in 150 countries. At the end of November, Macron toured Notre Dame, thanking the restoration workers. Their efforts, which spanned five years, cost over $700 million. According to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, the leftover donated money will likely be used to “benefit the cathedral” in other ways—though the exact plans are unclear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Britain’s Prince William, along with other top leaders, are also in Paris this weekend. President Joe Biden was invited, but will not be in attendance due to a scheduling conflict, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. First Lady Jill Biden will represent the US.
Ahead of the Notre Dame event, Trump is scheduled to meet with Macron and Prince William, who will also meet with Biden, according to the Associated Press and the British royal palace. Macron, Zelenskyy, and Trump sat down together upon arriving in Paris and posed for photos—though the extent of their plans to meet and discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine is unclear.
Earlier this week, a top aide for Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, met with key members of Trump’s team on a two-day trip. The president-elect has vowed to end the war in Ukraine swiftly, yet hasn’t clarified how, concerning those in Kyiv.
After Trump’s victory, Macron was the first foreign leader to congratulate him. The French president’s recent efforts to be friendly with Trump come after a long, complicated relationship between the two.
As the AP reported ahead of Saturday’s meeting, “Macron was the guest of honor at Trump’s first state dinner, and Trump traveled to France several times. But the relationship suffered after Macron criticized Trump for questioning the need for NATO and raising doubts about America’s commitment to the mutual defense pact.” On the campaign trail, Trump mocked Macron’s accent and claimed that his incoming administration would impose steep tariffs on wine and champagne bottles from France if they tried to tax American companies.
Heralding the diplomatic relationship between France and the United States is Charles Kushner, the newly named ambassador-to-be. Kushner, the dad of Jared Kushner and stepdad of Ivanka Trump, was pardoned by Trump after he was convicted and imprisoned in 2005 after pleading guilty to 16 federal counts of filing false tax returns, one count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and one count of retaliating against a cooperating witness. (He was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released earlier in 2006.)
In 2019, Trump, who was president at the time, offered some advice to first responders as the more than 800-year-old structure caught fire.
“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote on X, then still known as Twitter. “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”
Around two hours later, French officials sent out a post that appeared to respond to Trump: “Hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control.”
“All means are being used,” the official account of the French General Directorate of Civil Security and Crisis Management wrote, “except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”
