‘Not gold leaf, the real deal’: Macron tries to win over Trump at lavish Versailles

London: French builders needed 100,000 sheets of gold leaf to decorate the royal gate at Versailles when they reconstructed the entrance to the palace in 2008. French President Emmanuel Macron clearly hoped for a return on the investment when he hosted Donald Trump at the palace almost two decades later. The US president arrived at Versailles for a lavish dinner that was meant to mark the anniversary of American independence, but was designed to ease tensions with a man who is prone to picking fights with Europe.

And Trump’s love of gold seemed to be one of the reasons he chose to prolong his stay in France after attending the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva. “The French President, who happens to be a very nice man, invited me to dinner at Versailles,” Trump said on Tuesday. “And Versailles is not gold leaf.

Versailles is the real deal.” Trump repeated his interest in the gold of Versailles at his closing press conference at the G7, shortly before he boarded Air Force One and flew across France to make it for dinner. In the streets around the palace, however, some residents thought Trump did not deserve the invitation.

“It would make sense if he was a real peacemaker,” one man told France 24. But there was a purpose behind the opulence when Macron and other European leaders have so many disputes with Trump. The US president has withdrawn troops from NATO, cast doubt on whether he would back European allies in a conflict, halted military aid to Ukraine and sought control of Greenland.

The war with Iran strained relations even further when Trump called European leaders to ask if they would send ships or other forces to help the attack, only to be refused by each of them. Trump responded to those rejections by complaining about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and even his close conservative ally in Europe, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni, the only European leader who was invited to Trump’s presidential inauguration last year, used her meeting with Trump to mend fences this week.

“We have always been friends,” she said to him, in a moment caught on boom microphones nearby. “I was abandoned,” Trump replied. The G7 summit showed Trump trying to dictate terms to the fellow leaders – not only from Europe, given the group included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

“I am the boss,” Trump declared to the group when he arrived late to the morning session on Wednesday. Macron made sure the president felt honoured at Versailles by arranging a walk through the palace’s hall of mirrors, with 17 arched mirrors reflecting 17 windows, all framed in gold and marble. The menu for the dinner was overseen by famous chef Alain Ducasse and included an asparagus entrée, guinea fowl from the Bourbonnais region, local cheeses and a chocolate tart.

Using the palace to impress a visitor is not a new development. In 1961, French President Charles de Gaulle not only hosted US counterpart John F Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, to dinner at Versailles, but arranged a ballet in the Louis XV theatre. Macron hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at Versailles in 2017.

The French president defended his invitation to Trump hours before the dinner. “Let’s not be ashamed of who we are. Versailles is a diplomatic instrument and an instrument of power,” he said.

Macron and other European leaders claimed a win at the G7 in the discussion on Ukraine. The joint statement expressed “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity – a key statement when Trump has spoken in the past about trading away land in a peace deal with Russia. The G7 statement also spoke of using licenses for Ukraine to build its own air defence systems, an urgent issue when it cannot get enough US-made Patriot interceptors to shield its people from Russian missiles.

Macron defended his use of Versailles by saying he had always spoken up against Trump on issues such as Greenland, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the security of Europe. “I have always been very clear in expressing my disagreement, but I have always maintained a commitment to dialogue because that is what diplomacy is all about,” he said. “I believe France’s role is to stand firm and make its voice heard when there are disagreements and its interests are not being taken into account.

I fully stand by this because every time, by taking a firm stance or by re-engaging and warmly welcoming others, I am defending the interests of my country.” With the World Cup gaining more global attention than the G7, the French president used a football analogy to justify giving Trump such gold-class treatment. He compared his approach to that of the French national team, the Blues: “My goal?

Like the Blues, to score goals.” Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.

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