With lobster on the menu and a panoramic view over Paris from the Eiffel Tower on a summer evening, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, tonight will try to woo Donald Trump, urging the US leader to curb his American First instincts in dealing with Europe.
The two day trip has seen Mr Trump mark America’s entry into the First World War, visit the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, hold a summit with Macron and then will take dinner at the Paris landmark. Mr Trump and his wife Melania, who was dressed in a pillar-box red outfit on arrival, will tomorrow review the military parade for the French national day before returning home.
Beyond the ceremonial, Mr Macron has a point to prove. With the British absorbed in the complex, stuttering process of leaving the European Union, there is a vacancy for the role of European interlocutor with Washington.
While Germany is the European powerhouse, Mr Trump and Angela Merkel have frosty personal relations. The 39-year old ex-banker who became French president in May has stepped into the void.
“France, oldest ally of the US (1778!) is happy and proud to welcome @POTUS to commemorate the entry of the US into WW1 on its side,” wrote Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to Washington in a Twitter storm to mark Mr Trump’s touchdown. “Great symbolism of this day for @EmmanuelMacron when meeting Merkel and then @POTUS : France in the EU and in our transatlantic alliance.”
Mr Trump was in Europe just last week at the G20 summit in Hamburg where he met with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The US president told an interviewer that he had made “a deal” with Mr Putin in setting up a southwest Syrian ceasefire zone. Tonight Mr Trump indicated that plans to step up the ceasefire zone were imminent.
While all sides would welcome more peace making in Syria, Europe is wary of Mr Trump's talks with Mr Putin, who is viewed as a hostile force. By gaining better relations with Mr Trump, the French leader hopes to head off any more surprises somewhere further down the line.
That would require a leap of faith by two men who have very different outlooks. The youthful centrist French leader likes to compare himself to the Roman God Jupiter who flashed thunderbolts from the sky. Mr Trump views himself as the tribune of the unshaven ordinary man who uses Twitter often and uncompromisingly to castigate his doubters. “In the Trump-Macron relationship, opposites attract,” Denis Lacorne told the New York Times. “Macron has positions much closer to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He’s a pluralist. He’s got a world vision that’s exactly the opposite of Trump’s.”
The Europeans appear to have already lost the battle to cajole Mr Trump back into the global warming arrangement known as the Paris Accord. During a news conference this evening, Mr Trump made a non-committal statement on his current position on the issue: "Something could happen with respect to the Paris accord... We'll see what happens."
At the public events, the pair appeared to gel well, speaking animatedly and exchanging signals of bonhomie at another tomb - that of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander of French forces in 1917. “Trump and Macron spoke and gestured to each other,” wrote the US reporter covering the visit. “Trump pointed to the tomb a few times. Macron at one point punched his hand into his fist to make a point.”
As the two men later sat in the gilted reception rooms of the Elysee Palace for head-to-head talks, Mr Trump and Mr Macron were expected to agree on intensifying the fight against Isil and stronger diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.
At their fourth meeting in just two months, the presidents were also expected to exchange views on Mr Trump’s agenda for fairer trade between the world economy’s biggest players.
Beset by the controversy over Donald Trump Jr’s meeting with a Russian lawyer offering the Kremlin’s help to defeat Mrs Clinton in the 2016 election, Mr Trump needs the ceremonial events to glow back home in the US. Pleased to be able to grant Mr Trump a protest-free visit - the Bastille Day holiday has deterred the troublemakers of the ilk that wrecked Hamburg - the French are happy to oblige their guest.
“The main objective is to show our strong friendship over the years and that despite differences we remain close allies,” said Emmanuelle Lachaussée, a spokeswoman for the French embassy in Washington.
The most significant business of the day for Mr Macron therefore may well have been a German/French cabinet meeting with Mrs Merkel, which broke up just as the US leader arrived. At a news conference afterwards, the German leader made a significant gesture to the French by conceding that the eurozone could start talks on the establishment of its own finance minister.
Germany has resisted the move throughout the financial crisis, fearing that it would be forced to bankroll the weaker economies in the currency area. Berlin also worried the post would lead to a loosening of fiscal rules as politicians looked to the state to solve economic problems.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Avatar%20(2009)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
RESULT
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
