French President's Salute To Trump

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

President Donald Trump's first international tour will probably be remembered more for the accumulation of gestures and controversial situations than for the speeches or agreements that have been carried out.

To the swipes of the first lady Melania Trump or the face of Pope Francis, we can now add the decision of the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to greet Trump last when he met other leaders at the NATO summit in Belgium Thursday. The same French head of state posted a video of the moment on his networks.

The gesture may not have been intentional, but it seems to subscribe to the evident political differences between the new French president and the United States, who are in different political positions. While Trump supported the far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the recent Gallic elections, centrist Macron had the backing of former President Barack Obama.

Despite the smiles, journalists already felt some tension in Macron and Trump's first face-to-face meeting on Thursday when they gave a strong and prolonged handshake that seemed to turn white the knuckles of the magnate, who congratulated the Frenchman for his "Tremendous victory" at the ballot box.

Then, in a speech to all NATO heads of government, the US president read the primer to Europeans about delays in making contributions to the financing of the political and military alliance, the future of which he questioned during the campaign. despite having been the basic pillar of the global security architecture.

Is it because of this, knowing Trump's position, that Macron decided to shake hands with his partners on the continent first than with the American friend?