The newly elected US President Donald Trump arrived in Paris this morning, where he will attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
France Press reports that Trump's arrival in Paris, his first trip abroad since winning the US presidential election on November 5, is his big return to the international scene.
The reopening ceremony of the Gothic building after a devastating fire in 2019 will be an opportunity for world leaders to hear from the newly elected American president what his intentions are for the rest of the planet.
During his first term between 2017 and 2021, the Republican leader broke with a number of diplomatic norms.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden is among the fifty world leaders invited to Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron, but he will be represented at the ceremony by his wife Jill.
On his platform Trut Social, Trump announced his arrival in Paris on Monday and praised the French president for "doing an exceptional job making sure that the Notre Dame Cathedral is restored so that it regains all its splendor and even more."
Trump did not say whether he would talk to other leaders, but the French presidency said he would be received at the Elysee Palace by the French president, who would then receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It is not known whether the Republican billionaire, highly critical of the billions of dollars the US has given to Ukraine, will speak directly with the Ukrainian president.
The future US president has repeatedly said that he intends to strongly distance himself from the policy of great support for Ukraine, which the administration of President Biden has implemented since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump has promised to resolve the conflict even before he takes office on January 20, though he has never explained how he intends to do so.
For Emmanuel Macron, who is in the midst of turmoil over the fall of the government, the invitation to Trump gives the impression of something that has already been seen, when the French president tries to soften an American president known for his impulsive actions and with whom he had deep disagreements in the past, writes France Press.
For Europeans, the contrast in style between Joe Biden and Donald Trump could not be greater. While the outgoing Democratic president and Emmanuel Macron collaborated recently to facilitate a fragile truce between Israel and Lebanon, Donald Trump is sure to distance himself from Europeans on the Middle East issue, and form an even closer alliance with Israel, according to AFP.
When he came to the White House in the previous mandate in 2017, Trump's first trip abroad was a trip to Saudi Arabia to sign an agreement.
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