FRANCE/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump is not the only President who wants to make his country great again — his first state dinner guest, Emmanuel Macron, wants to do the same. That’s why the young, pragmatic French President is giving the impression that there’s nothing he’d rather do than spend time with his scandal-plagued US counterpart, offering him the respect and validation he craves. But he’s not acting purely out of the goodness of his heart: To fulfill his goal of restoring France’s prestige and global influence, he needs the United States — and that means there is no choice but to deal with the man in the Oval Office. It was a dynamic on display when Macron played a leading role alongside Washington in punishing chemical weapons strikes in Syria — reinforcing the values of Western civilization that many Europeans believe Trump disdains. It’s why Macron is so insistent that despite Trump’s instincts, the United States cannot afford to withdraw its troops from Syria and leave an open playground for extremists like ISIS and regional superpowers like Iran.”
–Stephen Collinson, “Macron hopes Trump relationship can help make France great again,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 24, 2018 2:11 am