PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron amicably welcomed President Trump to the French presidential palace on Saturday morning, smiling and shaking hands hours after Trump blasted him on Twitter.
“So thanks very much, Donald, for being here. This is our pleasure. And our people are very proud to have you here,” Macron told Trump after the men entered the Elysee Palace.
“I want to thank you here today for your solidarity 100 years ago, and your constant solidarity for precisely our people,” Macron said.
In a courtyard, the men waved to media gathered in the rain. A smiling Macron and straight-faced Trump ignored shouted questions about Trump’s Friday night tweet accusing Macron of making “very insulting” remarks about needing a pan-European military force.
Trump’s pointed rebuke was not directly discussed during brief remarks to a small group of reporters inside the building, with the leaders mentioning events commemorating the centennial of World War I’s end and issues including trade and terrorism.
Without directly addressing Trump’s criticism, Macron responded to a question about the tweet by expressing interest in increased burden sharing among North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, a major emphasis for Trump.
“It’s unfair to have the European security today being assured just by the United States, and we need a much better burden sharing … When President Trump has to protect or to defend one of the states of the United States, he doesn’t ask France or Germany, or another government of Europe to finance it,” Macron said.
Trump also side-stepped his tweeted slam, saying he and Macron “have become very good friends over the last couple of years” and “have much in common.”
“We’re getting along from the standpoint of fairness, and I want it to be fair. We want to help Europe but it has to be fair. Right now, the burden sharing has been largely on the United States, as the president will say, and he understands that. And he understands that the United States can only do so much, in fairness to the United States,” Trump said.
Trump’s rebuke of Macron on Twitter, moments after landing on French soil, injected unexpected acrimony into a once-close relationship between the men. He was responding to Macron’s proposal in an interview to create a “true European army” because “we have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.”
Trump tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!”
The weekend’s events also were thrown into question by poor weather. Citing rain, the White House canceled Trump’s planned Saturday afternoon visit to a military cemetery near the Belleau Woods battlefield, more than an hour from Paris.
Trump will be in Paris for fewer than 48 hours. His schedule includes a Saturday evening dinner hosted by Macron for visiting world leaders, and a Sunday lunch with fellow heads of state and government.
Trump will participate in an Armistice Day event at the Arc de Triomphe on Sunday and give a Veterans Day address at Suresnes American Cemetery on the outskirts of Paris.
Trump’s possible interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the most prominent areas of intrigue. A proposed meeting was announced last month by national security adviser John Bolton, before Bolton and Trump downplayed possible talks.
The meeting with Putin was scrapped in an apparent nod to Macron, who feared a distracting second Trump-Putin summit similar to the politically explosive July meeting in Helsinki. But some experts believe a Putin meeting might still happen.
Macron’s suggestion of a European military was premised on Trump’s proposed termination of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which bans short and mid-range nuclear missiles from Europe.
“When I see President Trump announcing that he’s quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980s Euro-missile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim? Europe and its security,” Macron in an interview this week.
