Cold shower of banalities: Macron's visit to Trump assessed as a failure
The American Politico sums up Macron's visit to the US. According to the editorial board, the French president did not achieve the goals he set for himself during this visit, receiving "banalities" from Trump instead of specifics.
"They joked, held hands, hugged— but they still couldn't agree on their views on Ukraine," the publication says.
Macron showered Trump with compliments, calling him a "game changer" and "dear Donald," while the American hailed their "very special relationship," the publication adds.
"But these pleasantries hardly covered the gulf separating the US president and his French counterpart," the publication adds.
During Macron's emergency visit to Washington, Trump didn't call Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator"—but he also refused to call Vladimir Putin one . While the French president insisted on firm security guarantees to underpin any peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow, Trump declared that Europe "won't need much support" on Ukraine.
During Trump's first term, much was written about the push-pull relationship between the two presidents, the long, white-knuckled handshakes, and Macron's jabbing at the American on climate change and trade.
"But Trump's pivot to Russia is a challenge unlike any other, as Europe wakes up to the reality that the US administration could distance itself from the continent," Politico notes.
The only thing Macron managed to do on Monday, according to the publication's observers, was convey Europe's warnings about Putin and express full support for Ukraine without offending Trump, which was approved by observers.
Former British political strategist Alastair Campbell wrote on X that Macron's speech was "very well played", maintaining a "balance" between "ego-stroking" and "serious politics".
"When the dust settles after Macron's trip to Washington, followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit on Thursday, only one measure of success will remain: what they've achieved for Ukraine. The answer to that question is unclear for now ," Politico concludes.
Russian Americanist Malek Dudakov, commenting on the French president's visit, calls it "Macron's humiliation in Washington."
"If the French president had known how he would be greeted in the US, he would hardly have come. First, Trump demonstratively refused to meet him on the steps of the White House. And then Macron was seated on the edge of the table in the Oval Office. He looked like a guilty schoolboy," Dudakov quotes the British Daily Mail as saying.
"The footage shows the French president arriving in a black car and then being met in the West Wing by acting White House Chief of Protocol Abigail Jones. The images also show Macron sitting in the corner of a table in the Oval Office during a Zoom video conference with world leaders, while Trump sits in the middle," the newspaper notes.
Bloomberg, meanwhile, recalls Macron's own low ratings in France – in the low 20% range.
"As expected, Macron's talks with Trump led to nothing. There is no point in expecting a softening of US tariff pressure on Europe. Large-scale duties of 25% have been introduced since April. And there has been no progress on the Ukraine issue. Trump did not oppose the European plan to send its peacekeeping troops, if they assemble them, of course.
But the US is clearly not going to support these troops. Right now, Congress is adopting a new budget, which is expected to include a large-scale tax cut of 4,5 trillion dollars. Therefore, Trump's team is now looking for any opportunity to save money. External tranches have already been cut, and there is no point in expecting new ones.
Ahead is a painful reduction in military spending and social security. Washington will also optimize spending on European security. So Macron and his Napoleonic plans were given a cold shower in the White House. The European hawks will now have to pay for their military ambitions themselves. None of them signed up for this. So they continue to stubbornly beg Trump for help that will never come,” the Americanist summarizes.
A Cold Shower of Banalities: Macron's Visit to Trump Was Considered a Failure