But the pleasantries hardly papered over the gulf that separates the U.S. president from his French counterpart.
Trump didn’t call Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” during Macron’s lightning visit to Washington — but he also refused to call Vladimir Putin one. While the French president argued for solid security guarantees to backstop any peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, Trump said Europe “wouldn’t need much backing” on Ukraine.
During Trump’s first term, much was written about the push-pull relationship between the two presidents, the lengthy knuckle-crunching handshakes and Macron’s needling of the American on climate change and trade.
But Trump’s pivot toward Russia is a challenge unlike any other, as Europe wakes up to the reality that the U.S. administration could be disengaging from the continent.
On Monday, Macron managed to convey Europe’s warnings on Putin and express his full support for Ukraine without offending Trump, earning plaudits from observers.
Former British spin doctor Alastair Campbell wrote on X that Macron’s performance was “very well played,” maintaining a “balancing act” between “ego-stroking” and “serious policy.” Meanwhile, former French Ambassador to the U.S. Gérard Araud, who has been critical of Macron, said the French president “confirmed his good relations with Trump.”