Trump to attend Notre-Dame’s reopening in a diplomatic coup for Macron

The visit was arranged two days ago, during a call between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron. On Monday, December 2, the American president-elect confirmed his trip to Paris for the much anticipated Saturday reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, among some 50 foreign heads of state and government. “It will be a very special day for all!” he wrote on his network, Truth Social: “President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so,” he added. When the fire broke out on April 15, 2019, Trump, then in the White House, suggested in a much-commented tweet that “flying water tankers could be used” to bring the blaze under control.

This will be the Republican’s first trip abroad, one month after his election and six weeks before his inauguration, while the composition of his administration has fueled concerns about his international intentions, in Ukraine, of course, but also in the Middle East. After a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, fighting continues in the Gaza Strip. The new administration, which is very close to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, intends to put “maximum pressure” on Tehran, at a time when France, Germany and the United Kingdom are, on the contrary, seeking to relaunch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

During their telephone conversation on Saturday, Macron and Trump touched briefly on these issues. They agreed to continue their exchanges on the sidelines of the ceremonies at Notre-Dame. It is also possible that Trump’s visit will prompt one from Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, who is keen to engage in dialogue with the Republican. Trump has relentlessly criticized American military support for Kyiv and claimed he would be able to settle the conflict “in 24 hours,” although President Vladimir Putin still refuses to negotiate, at a time when his forces are advancing in the east of the country.

Against a backdrop of escalating conflict, Zelensky is making his participation in any talks conditional on the “security guarantees” that his Western allies might grant him in order to prevent any further Russian offensive. “An invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is a necessary thing for our survival,” he emphatically stated on Sunday, in Kyiv, as he welcomed the new leaders of the European Union. The US, like Germany, is opposed to precipitating Ukraine’s integration into the alliance, unlike France and the UK, who say they are ready to grant Kyiv the “invitation to NATO” demanded by Zelensky. Zelensky has not yet confirmed his presence at the reopening of Notre-Dame, but is reported to be giving it serious thought.