Trump-Macron bromance unfolds all week during state visit

Associated Press

PARIS

Of everything Emmanuel Macron has accomplished in nearly a year as France’s president, the most important may be his tough-love friendship with Donald Trump.

From their first bone-squeezing handshake to Macron’s recent claim that he persuaded Trump to bomb Syria, it’s been an improbable relationship. And it will be on pomp-filled display starting Monday as Macron goes on a state visit to Washington, the first by any leader since Trump took office.

Macron calls Trump all the time. With other world leaders too wary or weak to woo the impulsive U.S. president, Macron calculates that it’s smarter and safer to talk to Trump than isolate him.

The 40-year-old moderate progressive, who had never held elected office before he won France’s presidential election, defended his overtures to the 71-year-old conservative Trump in an interview on the broadcast “Fox News Sunday.”

“I am not going to judge ... what should be your president, or to consider that because of these controversies or because of these investigations, your president is less credible,” he said.

The French president has the most to gain from the three-day state visit. He wants to fortify his image as the face of today’s Europe and the No. 1 defender of a liberal world order, as well as prove that France is essential to solving world problems such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions and international trade wars.

His aims may sound like French hubris or wishful thinking, but they are consistent with the “France is back” global strategy Macron has set for his tenure.

He talks regularly to Russian President Vladimir Putin and other controversial leaders, too. He also has tried his own diplomatic maneuvering in the Middle East with the goals of defending French interests and making sure Europe has a say in the region’s future.

For all their camaraderie, Macron and Trump disagree on some fundamental issues.

Take global warming. Macron mocked Trump’s campaign slogan by promising in a Twitter video he recorded in English to “Make our planet great again!” The video was posted moments after Trump announced he wanted to pull out of the U.N.-sponsored Paris climate accord last year.