French-American Show-and-Tell Amicably

"Mr. President, they're all saying what a great relationship we have and they're actually correct. Finally, it's not fake news."
"We have a very special relationship, in fact I'll get that little piece of dandruff off [Emmanuel Macron's suit shoulder]. We have to make him perfect, he is perfect."
"We finished at least almost our work and we have done a job nobody has been able to. I would love to get out, [of Syria], bring our incredible warriors back home. They have obliterated ISIS."
"[The U.S. intends to] leave a long and lasting footprint [and not to] give Iran open season to the Mediterranean."
U.S. President Donald Trump

Win McNamee / Getty Images    President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcome Macron and his wife Brigitte to the White House for a state dinner on Tuesday night.

French President Macron's state visit to the United States has been hugely successful. The French President has been able to diplomatically state his case in disagreeing with some of the positions the White House has taken under the Trump administration, and to do so in a manner that failed to result in ire rising from the irascible Donald Trump at being defied on any issue. But then Emmanuel Macron has a great advantage working for him. He is one of those beautiful physical specimens that Trump is so inordinately fond of.

And so, they hit it off. Much as Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have. President Macron may not be quite the preening, selfie-loving 'progressive' indulging in feminism and championing LGBTQ2 rights, but he appears to have a congenial personality that prosecutes a global point of view in matters of international importance, which Trudeau feigns and feints with considerable skill that occasionally loses its screen to reveal an incompetent hiding itself where resolute cognition should occupy the forum.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Trump flicks something off Macron's jacket during their meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

President Macron took all the attention heaped upon his person by the man in the Oval Office in good stride, beaming at the paternalistic tone, seemingly satisfied with the seriousness with which his opinion on world affairs was being taken. Such studies in character contrasts and studied submission to the force of an executive-colleague's personality bespeaks a master at conciliatory diplomacy. Without submitting entirely to the worldview each of the other, they maintained a cheerful yet seriously considered contest of wills.

Differences in policy are important considerations in an effort to move each other's position toward mutual satisfaction in agreement, if only marginally. A skillful debater with deep cognitive ability is capable of gentle persuasion in moving an ideological adversary closer to his own perspective to bring them in working accord. Trump's determination to pull American troops out of Syria remains intact, though he may now give it more time. Taking credit for the U.S. killing the ISIL caliphate does give unseemly short shrift to its reliance on Kurdish militias, however.

Trump is now talking a modified version of withdrawal, referring to the American mission still not quite "accomplished". The French President knows he is not alone in persuading Trump to have U.S. troops remain in Syria; his persuasive effort is destined to soon be repeated when German Chancellor Angela Merkel returns to Washington on a state trip of her own. When President Trump will no doubt repeat his mantra: "We want to come home. We'll be coming home. We're going to be coming home relatively soon."

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters  Trump and Macron walk down the colonnade at the White House following the official arrival ceremony for Macron on Tuesday.

President Macron had his briefer, more modest say when he affirmed that together he and Trump managed to have "raised new solutions together, and the Syria situation should be part of this bigger picture" that is the Middle East. The "broader picture" is, of course, inclusive of Iran, a solution for which can be found when the "incredibly wealthy" regional nations for whom Iran's ascendancy represents a threat, to agree to pay for and place their own troops on the ground, replacing the U.S.

As for North Korea, Trump stated, "Kim Jong Un, he really has been very open and I think very honourable from everything we're seeing", and anticipates that any agreement that might be reached would clear North Korea of any nuclear capabilities. In fact, nature itself may have taken a hand on that file, with news out of Hong Kong with the South China Morning Post reporting that the Punggye-ri nuclear site has collapsed. Its collapse resulting in  an "unprecedented risk" of radioactive fallout.

Kim is set to hold a historic meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27 [File: Reuters]

This is a situation that may in fact, explain why it is that Kim Jong Un has declared the immediate halt of the North's nuclear and missile tests, since the test site, according to the report and a researcher, has been "wrecked" beyond repair.