ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump tried out a new persona on Monday during high-stakes meetings with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron: peacemaker.
The U.S. leader has started his second term threatening to acquire territory, and not ruling out using military force to do so. He also has proposed taking ownership of the Gaza Strip and making Canada the 51st state.
But on Monday, Trump and Macron were narrowly focused on ending the war in Ukraine, Europe’s most deadly conflict in decades. The “America first” commander in chief even suggested it would be up to European security forces to patrol post-war Ukraine. Macron didn’t close the door on sending French troops for “peaceful deployments of troops, not for combat,” adding that other European leaders have told him they would do the same.
