Trump, escaping domestic woes, visits France's Macron

[webfact]

Trump, escaping domestic woes, visits France's Macron

By Michel Rose and Richard Lough

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Orly airport near Paris, France, July 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, under fire at home over Russian connections and abroad over climate change and trade, arrives in Paris on Thursday seeking common ground with France's new leader Emmanuel Macron.

 

After a bumpy start to relations, the two men both have incentives to improve ties - Macron hoping to elevate France's role in global affairs, and Trump, seemingly isolated among world leaders, needing a friend overseas.

 

Trump comes to France beset by allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Emails released on Tuesday suggest his eldest son welcomed Russian help against his father's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

 

Weeks after Macron hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles, Trump will bask in the trappings of the Bastille Day military parade on Friday and commemorations of the entry 100 years ago of U.S. troops into World War One.

 

Talks will focus on shared diplomatic and military endeavours, but an Elysee official said Macron would not shy away from trickier issues. Trump has made few friends in Europe with his rejection of the Paris accord on climate change and "America First" trade stance.

 

"The meeting won't avoid subjects on which we have different positions, such as climate and, to a certain extent, trade," the Macron aide said.

 

Macron will greet Trump at the Hotel des Invalides, a grand 17th century complex where Napoleon Bonaparte and other war heroes are buried.

 

They will later dine with their wives at a restaurant on the second floor of Paris' Eiffel Tower. The Elysee official said the symbolism was clear: "Paris is still Paris."

 

During the U.S. election campaign, Trump declared that a wave of militant attacks showed "France is no longer France", urging the French to get tough on immigration and jihadists.

 

COUNTER-TERRORISM

 

This year's July 14 celebrations come a year after a Tunisian man loyal to Islamic State ploughed a truck through a crowd of revellers on a seafront promenade in the Riviera city of Nice, killing more than 80 people.

 

A White House official on Tuesday said Trump and Macron would discuss the civil war in Syria, where Islamic State is defending its last major urban stronghold of Raqqa, and counter-terrorism.

 

For Macron, France's youngest leader since Napoleon two centuries ago, the visit is a chance to use soft diplomacy to win Trump's confidence and set about influencing U.S. foreign policy, which European leaders say lacks direction.

 

"I have no doubt that the presidents will talk about the state of military actions in Syria and they will talk about the future," the Elysee official said.

 

"Macron has said before that military action is not enough, we have to plan for development and stabilisation."

 

Beyond Syria and the Middle East, the Elysee said Macron would also press Trump for more support in financing a new West African military force to battle Islamic militants in the Sahel, where France wants to wind down its troop presence.

 

In bringing Trump to Paris, Macron has stolen a march on Britain's embattled Prime Minister Theresa May.

 

London's offer of a state visit for Trump met fierce criticism and warnings that he would be greeted by mass protests.

 

An Elabe poll showed that 59 percent of French people approved of Macron's decision to invite Trump.

 

(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; editing by Andrew Roche)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-13

[Srikcir]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

the visit is a chance to use soft diplomacy to win Trump's confidence and set about influencing U.S. foreign policy

Wrong. Learn the lesson from Putin.

You have to put Trump in a position for blackmail, then you own his foreign policy.

[maewang99]

the Financial Times refers to it as "The X Date"....

there won't be ****any**** place to escape to.... on planet Earth.... if the X Date is touched. 

the X Date is when if a Congressional agreement is not arranged, the US Treasury runs out of funny business it can pull off to avoid the expired Obama-Boehner agreement, that expired in March 2017 (that was agreed way back in 2015)... the US Debt Limit is US law until amended. and so far.. no progress at all on that.

here we go again.

no place on the planet... 

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by maewang99

[Thakkar]

So, Trump is in France, and he's going to be so disappointed when he learns "qui, qui" doesn't mean what he thinks it does.

~Colbert

 

[FritsSikkink]

He is doing well again:

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/donald-trump-in-new-sexism-row-as-he-tells-brigitte-trogneux-she-is-in-such-good-shape/ar-BBEnB6G?li=AAmiR2Z&ocid=spartanntp