Macron's Visit Will Test the Franco-American Security Partnership

Erik Brattberg, Philippe Le Corre

Politics, Europe

Of the leaders of the West’s great powers, only Macron seems to have cracked the code on captivating Trump.

As President Donald Trump prepares to welcome his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, for the first ever state visit of his presidency, Paris and Washington are closer now than they have been since the early days of the Iraq War.

However, with imminent decisions on several issues—ranging from Syria and the Iran nuclear deal to trade tariffs— on the horizon, the Macron-Trump “bromance” may not last much longer. Despite a shared love of pageantry and pomp, there is a real question if Macron will be able to leverage his personal chemistry with Trump and the close relationship between the two countries’ diplomatic corps and defense establishments to deliver tangible results for France and its partners in Europe.

Of the leaders of the West’s great powers, only Macron seems to have cracked the code on captivating Trump. Macron’s enthusiastic persona and his image as a “winner”—having been elected with a 66 percent majority, followed by a landslide victory in parliamentary elections giving him full constitutional powers—has charmed and impressed Donald Trump.

Furthermore, the recovering French economy and Macron’s domestic reform efforts have also not gone unnoticed in the White House. Trump and Macron also share many similar views when it comes to how to address economic challenges posed by the rise of China.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s other major leader—Angela Merkel—has struggled to engage effectively with Trump. Merkel who enjoyed a very close relationship with Obama was viewed with suspicion by Trump from the beginning. Merkel’s difficulties with forming a coalition government has weakened her international standing. That, along with open disagreements with Trump over Germany’s defense spending and trade surplus, have caused the two leaders to go an unprecedented five months without talking to each other. Merkel is slated to arrive in Washington to meet Trump just a few days after Macron, only their meeting is expected to be more subdued.