With a military parade on the Champs-Elysees and a gilded tour of France's most historic monuments, French president Emmanuel Macron laid on the charm as he positioned himself as the indispensable intermediary between Europe and Donald Trump.
The Bastille Day demonstration on Friday capped two days of Parisian glitz for Mr Trump and his wife, who were President Macron's guests of honour in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of America's entry into World War I.
Thanking the United States for the decision that turned the tide of a devastating conflict,Mr Macron said the Trumps' presence on France's national holiday "is the sign of a friendship across the ages."
Mr Macron made a point of detailing both the long history of ties between France and America and the areas where he and Trump disagree. But he made it clear it was in the spirit of bluntness with a friend and ally, even offering a conspiratorial wink during a joint news conference.
The two-day visit which began on Thursday featured a personal tour of the golden-domed Invalides monument (site of Napoleon's tomb) and a private dinner high in the Eiffel Tower prepared by master chef Alain Ducasse himself.
Mr Trump had front-row seats on Friday for the two hour-long parade which took place under blue skies, and applauded enthusiastically as various French military units marched past. At one point, Mr Trump saluted a combined group of US army and navy troops and Marines taking part in the annual event.
The two presidents both came to power as unlikely outsider candidates. The youngest president of modern France — and the same age as Donald Trump Jr. — Mr Macron started his own political movement just over a year ago. He has since won a strong parliamentary majority and is riding high in the polls.
The flattery from his French hosts was a respite for Mr Trump from his troubles at home, and he amended the opinion of a friend he calls Jim, who believes that "Paris isn't Paris any longer" because of the blight of Islamic extremism.
Asked about Jim's criticism, Mr Trump replied, Paris was "going to be just fine" because France now has a "great" and "tough" president. At their first encounter in May, the two men shared a white-knuckle handshake that the French president said was intended to show he was no pushover.
As Friday's visit ended, the men embraced and then the arm wrestling seemed to begin anew. As Mr Trump walked to his motorcade, he gripped Mr Macron's hand firmly, pulling the smaller man off-balance, and held fast as they walked together toward their wives.
Still, both seemed to minimize their differences, said Spencer Boyer, former national intelligence officer for Europe and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"President Macron was highly skilled at putting President Trump at ease and avoiding any land mines that would have derailed the show of unity," Mr Boyer said. "Macron was especially adept at sidestepping questions about US political controversies, which Trump clearly appreciated."
Although the welcome may have taken some of the sting out of their first encounter, Mr Macron's amiable meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day showed the balance the French leader appears to be striking.
With Ms Merkel, he emphasized their agreement on nearly every issue as well as their joint development of a fighter jet.
The German leader said there was no getting around interdependence in the 21st century. "Europe alone cannot win the war on terrorism," she said.
"There is no divergence between France and Germany in the manner of treating President Trump," Mr Macron added.
Still, the German chancellor, who was less than a block from the US Embassy when Mr Trump was ensconced inside, left the presidential palace before she and the American president could cross paths.
Mr Trump left open the possibility of reconsidering his decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord — the main source of disagreement with European Union governments. But he said if it doesn't happen, "that will be OK too."
Mr Macron's ability to firmly acknowledge his differences with Mr Trump are part of modern French tradition. His invitation to Trump was "a way of illustrating the history of France and America, allied but not aligned," said Thomas Gomart, director of the French Institute for International Relations.
Mr Trump's parting tweet showed a photo of the two men looking out over the Champs-Elysees, standing shoulder to shoulder during what the American described as a "magnificent #BastilleDay parade."
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
