FRANCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s decision to visit France on its national day next month at the invitation of new President Emmanuel Macron represents a shrewd political calculation by both leaders.
Trump announced Wednesday [6-28-17] that he would be in Paris on Bastille Day, July 14, for a day of pageantry at an event that will mark 100 years since the US entry into World War I.
The US President, on his second trip to Europe in two weeks — he heads to Germany for the G20 summit and Poland next week — will bask in the pomp of his official role as commander-in-chief at a time when he is under political siege at home.
‘The two leaders will further build on the strong counter-terrorism cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries, and they will discuss many other issues of mutual concern,’ the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.
The trip — to visit a leader who actually wants him to come — will be a chance for the President to counter a growing narrative about his unpopularity abroad. A Pew Research poll released Tuesday found deep disdain for Trump’s manner and ‘America First’ foreign policy. In France for instance, only 14% of those surveyed had confidence that Trump would do the right thing in global affairs, compared to 84% of people who said the same thing for former President Barack Obama.”
-Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s surprise Paris visit marks shrewd political calculation,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 29, 2017 08:17am