Something viral seems to come out of every meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump
and French President Emmanuel Macron – at least when cameras are rolling.
"Boy, did Macron roll out the red carpet, as we say, for Trump when he went to France.
President Trump probably thinks that they celebrate Bastille Day on his account."
So get ready for another round as Trump hosts Macron and his wife in the White House.
Besides being the first world leader Trump's invited for an official state visit, the young
French president will also be the first head of state to address a joint session of Congress
since Trump's election.
All of this obviously leads to one very crucial question:
"It's yet to be determined."
Oh, bummer.
But OK, let's move on.
"Beyond those viral moments, beyond the long handshakes, what is it in terms of policy
that these two have in common?" "Trump for all of his nationalism and all
of that in many ways is behaving like a conventional republican president: You cut taxes, and you
deregulate."
"And that's an area where they will see eye to eye, you're saying?"
"Right, and you have a strong military.
You do see that in the Middle East.
And especially with regard to Syria — not only a common sense of policy but a willingness
to pay a price to do that."
"I think the other part is that Trump is looking for a primary European ally.
If he's not going to be dealing primarily with Merkel, Britain is pulling out of the
EU — who's really his best option?
I would say Macron."
"What I don't know, I think, is how Macron thinks that the EU should behave with respect
to the U.S. on major issues, like trade and competition policy.Final point: I think that
he probably thinks of Macron as a disrupter like himself."
"President Donald Trump sees himself in Emmanuel Macron a little bit?"
"They're both people who, in a sense, come from outside, built their own party."
"The one thing I would guard against: Most of the time when you see a relationship that's
positive or negative, you think that it will last.
In Trump's case, he can turn on a dime.
"France is America's first and oldest ally.
A lot of people don't know that."
"France is our oldest ally."
"When George Washington defeated the British at Yorktown, he did so with the crucial aid
of the French Navy and to some extent, French armed forces on the ground.
When we say France is America's oldest ally, most Americans would take that is breaking
news.
They just wouldn't know.
While we don't know for sure if the Trump-Macron bromance is a thing, we sure know the relationship
between the U.S. and France has quite improved since the "freedom fries" era.
"No more freedom fries!"
"Freedom fries are just a thing of the past."
"Well, first of all, it was ridiculous when we renamed french fries as freedom fries."
"The refusal of France to support the U.S. in Iraq, triggering a symbolic protest.
Instead of offering french Fries, some restaurant in the country are now calling them 'freedom fries.'
That message also being heard in Washington.
Now, being served in congressional cafeterias: freedom fries.
And instead of French toasts, you can get freedom toasts.
Full disclosure: I have myself long supported the movement to rename french fries.
But that's because I'm Belgian, and really, they should be called Belgian fries.
But that's another story for another time.