Macron to Meet Zelenskyy and Trump at Notre Dame Reopening Amid Global Tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President-elect Donald Trump shared an awkward handshake the last time the two leaders met eachother.
French President Emmanuel Macron will be holding separate bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the re-opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral on Sunday. The historic church will open its gates once again after a devastating fire left the place in shambles.

It is pertinent to note that this will be Trump’s first visit abroad after he won the intense 2024 US Presidential Elections against Vice President Kamala Harris. The visit is also coming a month before Trump will formally assume power as the 47th president of the United States.

Trump’s return to power has made several European nations anxious about the future of American support to Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. In the past, Trump has been seen leaning towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, making Zelenskyy nervous about his country’s future. Not only this, NATO is also watching closely how Trump will be dealing with the alliance since there was an emergence of a rift between the two during Trump’s first term as the president.

Will Notre Dame dazzle Trump?
The Notre Dame Cathedral has been closed to the public since a massive fire broke out in April 2019. Dozens of global leaders and notable figures, including current First Lady Jill Biden and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will be attending the re-opening ceremony of the church.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen was also initially slated to attend but cancelled Friday evening. The EU commission president ditched France to head to Uruguay and sign a trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which Paris had vigorously opposed in the past.

However, Macron will be more interested in dazzling Trump as Paris looks forward to being a key ally to Trump’s US among the European nations. Trump was invited by the French leader after the former won the November 5 polls.

“It is an honour to announce that I will be travelling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the reopening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. The relations between the two leaders have been complex in the past.

In 2017, Macron invited Trump to attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees, during which the two men exchanged a bizarre handshake. Meanwhile, Trump and his wife Melania also hosted Macron and the French First Lady Brigitte for a state visit at the White House in 2018.

Hence, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between the two leaders changes as Trump gears up to take over the White House.