Here Are The Most Surreal Moments Of Trump And Macron's Magical Visit
It’s been quite the trip!
French President Emmanual Macron is in Washington this week, where ahead of a fancy State Dinner, he's been trying to persuade President Donald Trump to keep the Iran deal in place.
He arrived on Monday before Tuesday's State Dinner and every public minute of it since then has been...interesting.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The weirdness kicked off with this full-on military review at the White House, parroting the experience that Trump had when he visited Macron on Bastille Day last year.
While not the military parade that Trump ordered the Department of Defense to plan for Veterans Day in DC, it still raised some eyebrows. Especially when, in announcing the review, the White House claimed the tradition goes back to the 17th century — which was at least 76 years before US independence. The fife and drum corps though was a nice, if still odd, touch.
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
There was this picture on the White House balcony, where no two people had the same emotion on their face.
Shoutout to Melania though for turning on that smile for the cameras.
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
There was Trump and Macron planting a friendship tree on the White House grounds, which is just so objectively strange that a lot of people thought the pictures were photoshopped or staged.
But NOPE: the leaders actually used shovels to put dirt on that tree, which apparently came via the Belleau Woods, where the US suffered nearly 10,000 casualties during a World War I battle. CHEERY.
Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
There was Trump brushing what he called "dandruff" off of Macron's lapel, in front of George Washington and the entire White House press corps.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
There was Trump leading Macron along the White House colonnade by the hand like a parent taking his child to kindergarten.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
While not directly related to Macron, we have to pause to acknowledge First Lady Melania Trump's hat, which deserves its own Cabinet seat or something tbh.
Some people were quick to compare her look to Beyoncé's in the "Formation" video but...there are some lines that are meant not to be crossed.
Brian Snyder / Reuters
Later, at a joint press conference with Macron, Trump basically told his own nominee to be the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs that he should probably drop out of the running.
Adm. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician he'd nominated to take over the VA, is under intense scrutiny from Congress after allegations of overprescription and alcohol abuse were raised in the last few days. Trump then proceeded to say at least eight different times that he'd told Jackson some variation of "what do you need this for?"
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
This post will be updated after the State Dinner but so far, Macron has been an absolute champion of keeping his composure while being surrounded by weird shit.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters