Macron needs to find his inner Trump

If a week is a long time in politics then eight years is an eternity. Just ask Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron. Back in 2017 the two newly-elected presidents met for the first time in Brussels. They shook hands for the cameras, and kept shaking for several seconds, a game of machismo that tickled the commentariat. ‘That’s how you ensure you are respected,’ declared Macron. ‘You have to show you won’t make small concessions.’

The French president believed he was the future. Little did he know he would be the last of the progressive poster boys. The Guardian reported in 2017 how in Brussels Macron ‘pointedly swerved past Trump to embrace German chancellor Angela Merkel’. Next he greeted Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, and Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, with bonhomie. But no one excited Macron as much as Justin Trudeau, Canada’s dashing Premier, just six years older than the then 39-year-old Frenchman. ‘Justin has been inspiring,’ cooed Macron.