Trump and Macron: Bros or Adversaries?

Trump and Macron's On and Off Bromance

French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have had a tricky relationship. The last time French President Emmanuel Macron hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in France, some say it turned into a diplomatic disaster which underscored how once sincere relations between the political leaders had chilled to the point of subzero conditions.

As the two gentlemen hold talks on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations, Macron and French diplomats are hoping for a smoother go at it. Trump's trip in November 2018 for the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I climaxed in a hail of bad-tempered tweeting caused by the Trumps bruised ego, a French diplomat told the Associated French Press during the visit. The French diplomat said that after the open hostilities in November, Macron and Trump had held several phone calls during which they rebuilt a relationship that had started astonishingly well after Macron's election in 2017. The U.S. president was made a guest of honor of France's National Day in July of that year and the two men referred to each other as "friends" and repeatedly patted each other on the back while the visit ended with a 25-second-long handshake.

The problem for Macron is that his successes in persuading Trump and changing his thinking are few and far between, while the policy disagreements and gap between their visions of the world are becoming ever more glaring. The US role in liberating France will be commemorated on by Trump and Macron on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings when 150,000 Allied troops began an invasion of Nazi-ruled France.

Brut.