French President Uses 'Unique' Relationship to 'Turn Around' President Trump

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to use his “unique” relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump to convince the White House boss to “include Europeans” in any solution to the war in Ukraine, French officials said ahead of his trip to Washington.

In a post on social media X on February 23, just before his flight to Washington, President Macron said that European leaders "are committed to ensuring that peace returns to Ukraine in a fair, solid and lasting way, and that the security of Europeans will be strengthened through all upcoming negotiations."

The French President also revealed that he recently spoke with British Prime Minister Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help unify their views and solve common problems.

French officials told AFP that when entering the meeting with Mr Trump, President Macron had an advantage over other leaders in that "he had formed a unique relationship" with the US president.

Recently, US President Trump has shocked Europe when he announced his readiness to resume diplomatic relations with Russian President Putin and end the Russia-Ukraine war without the participation of European countries and Ukraine. In addition, according to European and Ukrainian assessments, Mr. Trump seems to have echoed Russia's views when considering Kiev as the reason and agent for the war.

Last week, French President Macron also tried to coordinate a common response with many parties to Washington's shocking policy change.

He held two meetings almost consecutively within a week with many key European and NATO leaders and declared that Russia is an "existential threat to Europeans".

The right attitude will solve the problem well.

“Macron has the experience to have the right attitude,” said Celia Belin, a US expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank. But she cautioned that “there is no guarantee that it will work.”

French President Macron and US President Trump both began their first presidential terms in 2017 and began a relationship that was considered to be “less troubled” and had mutual coordination in solving many regional and global issues.

However, this relationship is not always smooth and the French President can completely convince President Trump on all issues. Typically, Mr. Macron could not "keep" Mr. Trump to stay in the Paris climate agreement and the international agreement with Iran to limit the country's nuclear program.

However, despite occasional criticism of the French president, in December 2024, Mr. Trump, as President-elect of the United States, still took time to attend the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral and the two leaders of France and the United States have maintained regular phone calls since then.

Ms Belin said President Macron had repeatedly given Mr Trump a big distinction compared to other leaders and had “welcomed him warmly, honoured him”.

Although Mr Macron has lost some influence at home since dissolving parliament and calling elections for 2024, “he still has some influence internationally,” said Paul Taylor, a senior fellow at the European Policy Centre think tank.

President Macron also won the confidence of most European leaders as he began his trip to Washington, despite deep disagreements within the EU over sending peacekeepers to Ukraine to secure a fair future deal.

In his upcoming talks with President Trump, Mr. Macron is expected to make a big splash by announcing that Europe will make greater efforts to ensure its own defense. At the same time, he will also urge Mr. Trump to continue to support Ukraine, "providing the necessary military support and respecting its sovereignty."

Analysts said it remained to be seen whether the French president’s message was conveyed perfectly to Trump. Trump had previously made no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity as part of efforts to end the conflict, and bluntly stated that France and Britain had “done nothing” to end the war.

Regardless of the outcome, however, the tone of the discussions in Washington is expected to be strong and "completely uncensored," a source close to the French president said.