President Donald Trump is deploying the full trappings of formal state entertaining for the first time on Monday in the hopes an elaborate display of diplomacy can lead to a deeper bond with French President Emmanuel Macron, reports CNN.
But beneath the pomp and circumstance the state visit will bring -- streets lined with fluttering French and American flags, an elaborate military welcome and a meticulously planned state dinner -- the two leaders are expected to tackle a slew of pressing foreign policy issues, from the Iran deal to the Syrian civil war, counterterrorism and Russian aggression. The daylight between the men on some of those issues will become apparent.
Macron landed at Joint Base Andrews in a French government plane just past 1 p.m. ET on Monday, and was due at the White House in the early evening. He and his wife, Brigitte Macron, will meet with Trump and the first lady before flying aboard a helicopter to Mount Vernon, the riverfront estate of George Washington, where they'll dine.
"This state visit is really important for our people and very important for us," Macron said on the tarmac. "During the state visit we will have the opportunity to discuss a lot of bilateral issues and to discuss about our security, our trade and about a lot of multilateral issues that are important to our two countries -- and beyond our two countries."
The two leaders get to business on Tuesday following a military welcome on the South Lawn. In the wake of the US-French strikes in Syria, questions remain about Trump's willingness to maintain a military presence in Syria as Macron has urged his US counterpart to do. Trump's harsh new new trade approach has led to fears of a trade war. And a fast-approaching deadline on the Iran deal also looms large.
Trump has threatened to pull out of the Iran deal and snapback US sanctions on Iran by May 12 unless major changes are made to the agreement brokered by the previous US administration, which capped Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. France, Germany and the United Kingdom -- key signatories to the deal -- are in the midst of negotiations with the US aimed at assuaging some of Trump's concerns, but large gaps still remain.