President Emmanuel Macron hosted three-way talks with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and US President-elect Donald Trump in Paris on Saturday, December 7. Trump held talks with Macron inside the Elysée Palace ahead of the re-opening ceremony for Notre-Dame Cathedral, with Zelensky then arriving and immediately joining them. The trio posed for a picture but made no further public comment before starting the talks.
When he arrived at the Elysée, US President-elect Donald Trump said that the world was "a little crazy" as he met Macron. The two men embraced and shook hands several times on the steps of the French presidential palace, with Trump given a full guard of honor.
"It seems like the world is going a little crazy right now and we will be talking about that," Trump told reporters as he prepared to sit down for talks with Macron which started around 45 minutes later than scheduled.
Despite tensions between the two men during his first term, Trump hailed his ties with the centrist French leader, saying: "We had a great relationship as everyone knows. We accomplished a lot."
Macron told Trump it was "a great honor for French people to welcome you" for the re-opening ceremony at Notre Dame, which was devastated by a blaze in 2019 during Trump's first term. "You were president at that time and I remember the solidarity and the immediate reaction," Macron added, speaking in English.
When he first took office in 2017, Trump's ties with Macron – then also a fresh face on the world stage – began warmly despite their obvious political differences. Their long and muscular handshakes – which saw each man seek to assert his superiority – became a light-hearted focus of attention before ties cooled, then soured, following disputes about climate change, trade and defense. They were expected to discuss the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as trade.
Trump's return to power has rung alarm alarms in Paris and many European capitals after his promises on the campaign trail to force an end to fighting in Ukraine which could see US military assistance to Kyiv withheld.