Trump’s Notre Dame Appearance Means More Than You Think

Emmanuel Macron, the French President, invited President Donald Trump to attend the grand re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral after 5 years of reconstruction. 

It will be a grand affair, attended by 50 heads of state, and Donald Trump is being treated as one of them even before he returns to power on January 20th, 2025. 

That’s a big deal, because it is a symbolic acknowledgment that in the eyes of the world, including Europe, Donald Trump is already the president who matters. Joe Biden is PINO (President in Name Only). I like that neologism. 

RETURN TO GLORY: Trump will be among 50 heads of state expected to attend Notre Dame’s reopening this weekend, an invite-only affair celebrating the restoration of one of Europe’s most famous cathedrals. Nearly $1 billion was raised for the restoration. https://t.co/Y4mXCwILmM pic.twitter.com/p0pd3hckPa

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 3, 2024

It’s no secret that European leaders viewed Donald Trump as an interloper, an uninvited member who barged into their cozy little club in 2017. They disdained him, ridiculed him as oh-so-gauche, and breathed a sigh of relief when he left the world stage in 2021. 

And, it remains true that they would prefer a different president than the one they have coming, but not only are they reconciled to a Trump return, they may even be glad that it was he rather than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris who will be sitting in the Oval Office. After all, four years of Joe Biden have not exactly been great for Europe, with a hot war on their Eastern flank and turmoil on their Southern one. 

On this latter point, I can’t say–I am no mind reader, and Trump certainly presents a lot of problems for the transnational elite–but their dreams of a world in which elites can hire technocrats to run a utopia have run up against the realities of living in a tough world with some evil people. 

Emmanuel Macron seems most interested in establishing good relations with Trump. His political future is in doubt, given the terrible elections he suffered. The German government right now is irrelevant, as it has essentially collapsed and will have new elections next year; and Kier Starmer is in no position to give Donald Trump any real trouble given his political woes. Trump is riding high as European leaders are…not. 

There’ll be a strong sense of déjà vu when French President Emmanuel Macron lays the flattery on thick for Donald Trump in Paris this weekend.

Few foreign leaders did more to woo Trump when he was the 45th president. In fact, Macron treated him with such deference at a Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées that Trump came home wanting a military parade of his own — on July Fourth.

As Trump prepares to become the 47th president, Macron has surpassed himself, inviting Trump to attend the year’s most vaunted opening — the unveiling of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a savage fire.

Trump isn’t waiting until January to launch his new foreign policy — he’s already threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico and showed who is boss when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rushed to Florida to appease him last week. And on Monday, he warned that there will be “ALL HELL TO PAY” in the Middle East if Hamas doesn’t release hostages in Gaza before Inauguration Day.

Trump’s starring role in Paris will also mark a poignant contrast with Joe Biden’s increasingly ignominious long goodbye. The president came under fierce criticism Monday, even from within his own party, after he pardoned his son Hunter, undercutting a core principle of his term — that everyone is equal before the law.

Of course, it is true that Joe Biden still holds the reins of power and can do things to make things worse–his specialty–but in most respects, the leaders of the world have already acknowledged that Biden is the past and Trump is the future. In order to save their own backsides, they must kiss Trump’s. 

And a lot of backside kissing there will likely be. Europe is in deep trouble. Trump is a Euroskeptic, and at minimum he will demand more military spending to fulfill their NATO obligations. He will likely also push back on censorship in Europe, ESG requirements and start dismantling the worst of the transnationalist tripe that has been foisted upon Americans. 

One thing we do know, though, is that Trump is responsive to flattery, and you can expect a lot of it when he arrives in Europe. There won’t be the sniggering we saw during his first term as he is striding onto the world stage as a victor. I expect he will get most of what he wants. 

Pleasing Trump is much more important than pleasing Ursula von der Layen at the EU. 

Trump Senior Advisor @JasonMiller: “President Trump isn’t even back in the White House yet and he’s already taking action — and getting results.” 🔥 pic.twitter.com/boZvw7htCN

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 3, 2024

Trump has already shown his mettle during his meeting with Justin “Castro” Trudeau, emasculating him in public by suggesting he consider making Canada the 51st state. That was a signal to everybody that the United States is back, Trump is in charge, and it is time to quit telling us what to do. 

He who pays the piper chooses the tune, and the US is the main funder of the music.