French President Emmanuel Macron pleaded with Donald Trump to attend the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in a long phone call, according to sources close to the French president. The ceremony is scheduled for this weekend when the cathedral opens its doors to the public for the first time since the devastating fire five years ago.
Trump will join approximately 50 world leaders and foreign dignitaries, including Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, for a ceremony to celebrate the re-opening. Macron and Trump discussed foreign policy issues before agreeing to continue their discussions on the sidelines of the ceremonies at Notre Dame.
European leaders are racing to curry favor with Trump following his landslide election victory. The French media has interpreted Macron’s request as a “diplomatic coup.” Trump’s attendance at the ceremony will be his first foreign trip since his election victory, and it offers France several diplomatic challenges.
The US president-elect plans to visit Paris this weekend, where he is expected to meet Melania Trump, who was the first to visit Notre Dame with her French counterpart, Brigitte Macron, in 2017. Security for the event will be significantly stepped up, although there is no indication yet of how the Trumps will be ranked among the official guests.
Macron and Trump had previously forged a strong relationship during Trump’s presidency between 2017 and 2021. However, they also faced diplomatic disputes, including a dispute over French wines in response to the country’s tax on digital services. Macron congratulated Trump on his re-election last month and announced that he would nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner as the next US Ambassador to France.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/macron-pleaded-trump-phone-attend-203007493.html