Macron’s surprise invitation to Trump to attend the Bastille Day celebrations has lured the travel-weary president back on to Air Force One only three days after he left Europe and the G20 in Hamburg.
Formally their talks are due to focus on Syria and counter-terrorism, but the true value of the meeting lies in the symbolism. For the British it is a lesson that respect and alliances with America need not only be built through submission.
The deeper worry for the UK must be that Trump warms to Macron’s energy, and finds the British, preoccupied by the intricacies of Brexit and led by a “loser” who wasted her parliamentary majority, comparatively less appealing. His state visit to the UK – stalled at least until next year – is in danger of becoming a symbol of an ailing special relationship. [...]
Equally, after the Manchester terrorist attack in May, Macron walked from the Élysée to sign a condolences book. A letter of gratitude for the gesture from the British embassy received a handwritten reply from Macron to the effect “it is what should be expected”. Gallic charm and symbolism have their virtues.
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