Macron deploys Versailles’ gold, mirrors and history in a high-stakes courtship of Trump

PARIS: Donald Trump explained the appeal in one sentence: “Versailles is not gold leaf — Versailles is the real deal.”

For Emmanuel Macron, that was precisely the point.

On Wednesday night, the French president threw open Louis XIV’s palace to his US counterpart for a private reception, show and dinner marking America’s 250th birthday. At a turbulent moment for the trans-Atlantic alliance, it could help Macron keep a personal channel open as the two navigate differences over Iran, Ukraine and tariffs.

It already kept Trump from leaving a Group of Seven summit early, as he did last year in Canada.

“I’m a fan of beautiful places,” he told reporters, saying he had planned to leave earlier until “a very nice man” invited him to dinner. Upon arrival at the chateau, he posed for photographers in front of its golden doors.

The welcome also served a practical purpose. In an interview earlier this week with France’s TF1 television, Macron said Trump “needs to stay until the end” to help complete the summit’s agreements.

It is perhaps the biggest soft-power flex available to a French president: Versailles, the Hall of Mirrors, the gardens of the Sun King and several centuries of carefully polished national grandeur.

“Versailles is a diplomatic tool and an instrument of influence,” Macron said Wednesday, likening diplomacy to soccer. “Whether I’m playing at home or away, my goal is to score goals. And when I host other teams, I try to give them a nice welcome.”

France holds little economic or military sway over Washington, so pageantry is one of its few levers — even as its use elsewhere has brought mixed results at best.