While navigating the country’s worst political crisis since the 1960’s, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump and hosted a three-way closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the backdrop of the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday.
The outing marks Trump’s first international visit since his Nov. 5 election win and although he has not yet begun his term, he was given a full guard of honor at the Elysée Palace. The U.S. President-Elect was greeted warmly by Macron upon arriving at the Palace before the pair posed together for pictures several times. Macron, who was the first world leader to congratulate Trump for his victory in the U.S. presidential election, told journalists that welcoming Trump for the reopening of Notre-Dame was a “great honor” because Trump was serving his first term when the iconic Cathedral was mostly destroyed in a massive blaze in April 2019.
“I remember the solidarity and your immediate reaction,” said Macron. “So welcome back again. We are very happy to have you here.”
Reacting to Macron’s praise, Trump said, “It’s been a great honor. We have a great relationship, as everyone knows. We’ve accomplished a lot together,” Trump said, adding that “the people of France are spectacular.
“It’s an honor to be here. We had a good time together and we had a lot of success, really great success working together on defense and offense, too,” Trump said, before adding, “It certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now. And we’ll be talking about that.”
Macron and Trump then got together with Zelensky for a meeting that lasted under an hour. While Macron has been slammed by the French press for prompting a political crisis at home, his manoeuvre to get Trump to sit with Zelensky to discuss the ongoing invasion of Russia has been described as a “diplomatic coup” in the French press. Trump’s position on Ukraine has been a source of concern across Europe after he vowed to settle the war in Ukraine in one day, and suggested he could withdraw US military support to Kyiv.
Following the encounter, Zelensky posted on X, saying he had a “good, productive meeting” with Trump and Macron. “President Trump, as always, is determined. Thank you for that. I also thank President Macron for organizing this meeting in Paris. We talked about our people, we talked about our people, the situation on the battlefield and a just peace for Ukraine. We all want to end this war as soon as possible and fairly,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
Macron, meanwhile, wrote on X following the meeting that “United States, Ukraine and France. Together on this historic day. United for Notre-Dame. Let’s continue to work together for peace and security.”
Trump, who posted on the platform Truth Social, didn’t react to the meeting specifically but alluded to it in a post about the collapse of the Syrian government and fall of Bashar al-Assad, saying, “He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.”
“Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”
Following their meeting, Macron, Trump and Zelensky attended the reopening ceremony for Notre-Dame, alongside Elon Musk, Britain’s Prince William, the First Lady Jill Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, among others.
Kering boss François-Henri Pinault and LVMH Group CEO Bernard Arnault, who pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebuild the historic landmark, where also in attendance.
