Macron pulls out all the stops on Bastille Day as Trump leaves satisfied | World news
When France’s top military band, in their gold-buttoned uniforms, shattered the formality of the Bastille Day military parade by breaking into a medley by Daft Punk, it wasn’t a surprise.
For days, the French military’s top musicians had been bemusing passersby on the Champs Élysées as they rehearsed their bewilderingly fast dance steps, with many of them darting to and fro heaving tubas and trombones.
Some band members had even questioned why they should be doing “popâ€, but orders had come down from on high: this year’s parade had to “reach out to the youthâ€.
Whether the US president, Donald Trump, who was guest of honour at the celebrations, got the joke was another matter.
From the VIP viewing platform, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, could barely suppress a smug grin. But Trump looked on, pursing his lips earnestly, as he had done watching the hundreds of troops parading moments before. At one point, he mouthed “so good†to his wife, Melania Trump, but he did not appear to recognise the hits. While French dignitaries clapped and swayed in their seats, Trump sat resolutely still, his blonde comb-over lifting and falling slightly in the breeze.
But he applauded enthusiastically at the end. His 24-hour visit to Paris to mark Bastille Day, discuss the Syria crisis and work on what he called an “unbreakable friendship†with Macron had been so packed with sight-seeing â€" dinner at the Eiffel Tower, a boat cruise down the Seine for the first ladies â€" that some had joked the only thing missing was a French can can show. This was the next best thing.
Trump loves military parades â€" he had reportedly hoped for something on this scale at his own inauguration â€" and was frequently on his feet and applauding as the French military showcased its troops, tanks and fighter jets, including many US-made planes. White House observers said they had not seen him so happy for months.
“Nothing will ever separate us,†Macron said of the US-France relationship in a speech at the end of parade, adding that Trump’s presence was “the sign of a friendship across the agesâ€. Trump was invited as France is marking the centenary of the US entering the first world war. The presence of 1917-era tanks and uniforms on the Champs Élysées was a reminder of the millions who died in the conflict.
But this was also Macron’s moment of grand showmanship diplomacy. Six weeks ago, he had driven the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, around the majestic grounds of the Palace of Versailles in an emerald green electric golf car, boasting of the grandeur of French history. Now, he was being transported down the Champs Élysées standing bolt upright in an open-top military command car, surrounded by hundreds of guards on horseback, as crowds cheered and Trump looked on impressed.
Behind the military symbolism, there was a lot at stake on the domestic front. On Thursday, Macron publicly slapped down military chiefs who had questioned new spending cuts after promises expenditure would increase. “I have made commitments, I am your boss,†Macron told an audience of dozens of top army officers and their families after the top general, Pierre de Villiers, reportedly told a parliament committee he would not let the government “fuck with him†on spending cuts to defence.
Macron’s open-topped ride down the Champs Élysées was also intended as a message of defiance against the ongoing terrorist threat in France. Last month, a self-described nationalist, who had applauded the neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, was charged with plotting to assassinate Macron at the Bastille Day parade.
Hanging over the military celebrations was the sorrow of the one-year anniversary of the Nice truck attack, when a man killed 86 people and injured 450 by driving a lorry into crowds watching Bastille Day fireworks. The military band had arranged themselves into the word Nice and Macron later flew to the French Riviera city to commemorate the attacks.
At the parade, Macron’s message to Trump was one of friendship. The US president headed to the airport beaming from ear to ear â€" and not before yet another session of back-patting for the cameras.
If the two leaders’ first meeting in Brussels in May had been marked by Macron delivering a deliberate death-grip handshake to show France would not make concessions, Trump’s 24 hours in Paris were punctuated by a bewildering number of handshake re-runs with varying strengths and messages.
In Macron’s office at the Elysée palace, he had been gentle and even let go first. But as they prepared to watch the military parade, Trump took his time and kept on shaking Macron’s hand, with the French president having to place his hand on his counterpart’s elbow to try to wind it down, as both men smiled. Just before departing for the airport, Trump at one point was simultaneously gripping Macron by one hand and his wife Brigitte by the other.
Macron had gambled that he should reach out to Trump and â€" as one French minister put it â€" “bring him into the circleâ€, hoping to influence US policy while remaining firm on France’s different opinions on climate change and free trade.
French public opinion initially seemed to accept that diplomatic endeavour, despite an overwhelming dislike for Trump. But it will fall to Macron in the coming months to show what he gained from rolling out the red carpet to Trump, and demonstrate whether France really does have any power to sway the US on climate action and other points of contention.
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