WASHINGTON: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday kicked off a pomp-filled three-day state visit to the US at the White House — a test of whether his studied bonhomie with President Donald Trump can save the Iran nuclear deal and avoid a trans-Atlantic trade war.
Before getting the full red carpet treatment at the White House — payback for wooing Trump with military parades and a dazzling Eiffel Tower dinner in Paris last July — Macron took an impromptu stroll to the Lincoln Memorial with his wife Brigitte.
Hailing the “very important” visit, Macron then rolled into the West Wing from Lafayette Square — named after the storied French general who fought in America’s war for independence — beneath dozens of fluttering tricolor French flags and before a full US military color guard.
Waiting at the door, the US president smiled and held out his hand for Macron to shake, and the French leader kissed him on both cheeks.
The pageantry — designed to underscore Trump and Macron’s “friendship” — comes in stark contrast to the bare-bones one-day working visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel later in the week.
But beyond the 21-gun salutes and dinners of lamb and “Burnt Cipollini Soubise” lurks high political danger for the 40-year-old French leader.
Trump is deeply unpopular in France and Macron, like other world leaders — from Japan’s Shinzo Abe to Britain’s Theresa May — is under growing pressure to show voters the benefits of his courtship with the 71-year-old Republican.
Looming over a joint outing to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate on Monday evening, and working meetings and a state dinner on Tuesday, are two May deadlines that have the potential to wreck already fragile trans-Atlantic relations.
Biting trade sanctions on European steel and aluminum will enter into force on May 1 unless Trump agrees to sign a waiver. If he refuses, there are fears of a full-fledged trade war.
Meanwhile, France and other European nations are battling to save a complex nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump will scuttle if he refuses to waive sanctions against Tehran by a May 12 deadline.
Iran says it is ready to relaunch its nuclear program — which the West suspects is designed to produce a bomb — if Trump kills the deal.
European officials say Trump’s demand to reopen the deal are impossible, and are scrambling to address his concerns on Tehran’s missile testing, inspections and the regime’s behavior in the region.
There is growing frustration in European capitals that Trump’s stubbornness over the Obama-era agreement is diverting attention away from other pressing issues.
In an interview broadcast on the eve of his arrival, Macron went on Trump’s favorite television channel, Fox News, to make his pitch.
“If you make war against everybody,” Macron said, “trade war against Europe, war in Syria, war against Iran — come on — it doesn’t work. You need allies. We are the allies.”
Macron will also be keen to temper Trump’s instinct to precipitously pull the US military out of Syria, amid cooperation in fighting the Daesh group and coordinated strikes on chemical weapons installations operated by Damascus.
“I think the US role is very important to play,” he said.
“Why? I will be very blunt. The day we will have finished this war against ISIS — another name for Daesh — if we leave, definitely and totally, even from a political point of view, we will leave the floor to the Iranian regime, Bashar Assad and these guys.”
In public, both countries are keen to emphasize their historic relationship — recalling that France was the first ally of American revolutionaries fighting for independence.
Macron brought with him an oak sapling that he and Trump planted at the White House on Monday as a symbol of friendship.
It comes from near the site of the Battle of Belleau Woods in northern France, where 2,000 US Marines perished at the end of World War I.
The pair, clearly relaxed, also briefly visited the Oval Office before heading to Mount Vernon.
On a personal level, despite sharp differences in political background, age and lifestyle, the presidents seem to have struck up a bond as fellow outsiders who outwitted the establishment to gain power.
“We have a very special relationship because both of us are probably the maverick of the systems on both sides,” Macron told Fox News.
Trump himself told Macron their “friendship” was “unbreakable” during his trip to Paris last year.
When asked about their first encounter — a much-scrutinized six-second handshake during a NATO summit in May — Macron acknowledged it had was a “very direct, lucid moment” that had set the tone between them.
“And a very friendly moment,” he added. “It was to say now, we will work together.”
On Wednesday, the centrist leader will demonstrate his English-language skills — a rarity for a French president — in an address to a joint session of Congress.
France’s Macron at White House, Mount Vernon as state visit begins
France’s Macron at White House, Mount Vernon as state visit begins
- French President Emmanuel Macron received the full red carpet treatment at the White House as he begins his state visit to the US
- Macron is set to address a joint session of Congress
Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders unite to counter Trump administration’s agenda
- Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, caucus chair, lamented the concerted effort to roll back civil rights underlying voting access and dismantling of social programs
- Civil rights leaders and Democratic lawmakers have already filed dozens of lawsuits against the administration’s anti-DEI policies
WASHINGTON: The Congressional Black Caucus and major civil rights groups on Tuesday marked Black History Month by relaunching a national plan to mobilize against what they say are the Trump administration’s efforts to weaken legal protections for minority communities.
The assembled leaders voiced outrage over the series of policy actions President Donald Trump has implemented since his return to the White House, as well as the president’s personal conduct, but offered few concrete details about what they’re prepared to do in response to the administration.
“Over the past year, we have seen a concerted effort to roll back civil rights underlying voting access, dismantle social programs and concentrate power in the hands of the wealthy and well-connected, at the expense of our community,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Clarke, who spoke in front of leaders from major civil rights organizations and her Democratic colleagues, promised the caucus would “legislate, organize, mobilize our communities.” The coalition, which spoke privately before the press conference, discussed how to protect voters ahead of the fall midterms and how to build a policy agenda for Democrats should the party win back power in either chamber of Congress next year.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, and every tool available to the leadership collectively has got to be deployed to get this thing turned around,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told The Associated Press after the press conference.
Jeffries did not rule out mass protests, organizing boycotts and further legal action as potential steps organizers may take.
The leaders’ warnings come at a moment when the Trump administration has continued its crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion across the US government, in higher education and the private sector.
At the start of his second term, Trump signed multiple executive orders banning the use of “illegal DEI” in government agencies, as well as organizations that interact with the federal government. Trump has threatened to withhold funds from major companies, non-profit groups and state governments as part of the administration’s efforts to upend DEI.
The administration has also sought to redefine the nation’s culture and how history is taught in museums, classrooms and other educational settings. It also prioritized investigating and prosecuting civil rights cases of potential discrimination against white people through both the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, among other agencies.
Civil rights leaders and Democratic lawmakers have already filed dozens of lawsuits against the administration’s anti-DEI policies.
Locked out of power in both chambers of Congress, Democrats have fewer ways to conduct oversight or limit the actions of the Trump administration. And civil rights leaders, who were largely knocked on the back foot by a deluge of policy changes over the last year, are attempting to regroup ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
Progressive civil rights leaders, who are broadly unhappy with the administration’s entire agenda, have argued that the president’s agenda on immigration, voting rights, the economy and other issues is exploiting hard-won policies that civil rights leaders had, for decades, used to ensure anti-discrimination and economic advancement for Black communities.
“This is about how this administration is using the tools we built as a Black community to ensure that all of our people are protected,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Progressive state leaders and civil rights groups have also stepped up their efforts elsewhere. A coalition of state attorneys general and civil rights groups this month launched a coalition to promote DEI and accessibility policies through more aggressive legal action.
“State attorneys general are in a unique position to defend these fundamental rights, and this campaign will ensure everyone is heard and shielded from those who aim to weaken civil rights,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement on Monday announcing the initiative.
The initiative includes Democratic attorneys general from fourteen states District of Columbia, as well as over a dozen civil rights groups from across the country. The group intends to launch inquiries and file lawsuits across the country into instances where, the leaders argue, organizations may be violating anti-discrimination laws in response to the rollback of DEI policies by major companies and the Trump administration.
The effort faces an uncertain and shifting legal landscape.
Federal courts remain divided over the use of race in hiring and anti-discrimination in the workplace. And the conservative-majority on the Supreme Court has ruled against the use of race in college admissions. Several justices have voiced skepticism about how race and other characteristics can be used by government agencies and private institutions, even if a policy was meant to combat discrimination.
On Tuesday, the assembled civil rights leaders repeatedly acknowledged the uphill battle that their movement faced on multiple fronts. Some said that the administration’s policy decisions may set up stark political battles in the coming years.
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, said: “We commit today to fight and fight and fight until hell freezes over, and then, I can assure you, we will fight on the ice.”
