CNN
—

Notre Dame Cathedral will provide a sublime backdrop for President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the geopolitical stage on Saturday, as French officials put an elaborate cap on the five-year project to restore the towering landmark with a reopening ceremony featuring dozens of world leaders .

Trump’s arrival in Paris, with a return to the White House in just over six weeks, comes at a crucial time for governments in Western Europe, which – like France itself – is currently caught in a back and forth between wavering liberalism and wavering liberalism The democratic order and the emerging right-wing movements are determined to turn it on its head.

French President Emmanuel Macron, now in his second five-year term, invited Trump to attend as he seeks to stabilize a collapsing government at home while maintaining his influence abroad – most persistently when it comes to the Future of Western support for Ukraine goes against Russia.

Trump has insisted he has a plan to bring immediate peace to the region, although allies of Ukraine fear the president-elect could push for a ceasefire or peace deal that suits Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has little interest in it has signaled that it will be seen as more favorable to give up its war of conquest.

Macron’s success in bringing Trump to Paris – where he and other pro-Ukrainian leaders can make their case in such a luminous environment – has earned him increasingly rare plaudits from the French press, which has called it a “diplomatic coup.” (The French president last month also became the first foreign leader to publicly congratulate Trump on winning his second term.) The French embassy announced Friday that Macron will hold back-to-back meetings with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the ceremonies , however, it remains unclear whether Trump and Zelensky will hold direct talks.

The details of Trump’s visit were hammered out over several days, but the president-elect told his team he would be happy to attend. He has long been fascinated by the cathedral and even tweeted more than five years ago when a fire ravaged the Gothic building on the Île de la Cité, an island in Paris’ Seine River. The iconic tower and roof were destroyed as television viewers around the world watched in horror.

Investigators believe the fire was an accident, but have not yet determined the direct cause.

“It is so terrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” Trump posted on April 15, 2019, during his first term in the Oval Office. “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”

His suggestion was ignored by the fire department and France’s civil protection agency, Sécurité Civile, responded on social media less than two hours later, warning – in English – that “water bombing planes…could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”

Trump has long sought the kind of recognition in high society that is now being offered to him by Macron and other European leaders who are worried about the direction of the new administration, but some of his critics – led by Late Night -Comedians – in the USA quickly made fun of the conspicuous visit.

“If everything goes according to plan, he would like to buy it and turn it into a casino,” Jimmy Kimmel joked earlier this week. Jimmy Fallon joked that the cathedral would “go up in flames again” if Trump entered.

For Macron, this occasion is no reason to laugh.

Immediately after the fire, he promised to rebuild and reopen the destroyed cathedral in five years – a deadline he narrowly met. There is less room for error and much more at stake in its ongoing efforts to maintain the fragile coalition supporting Ukraine.

His congratulations to the president-elect last month – sent before most US media outlets had even called the race – alluded to his relationship with Trump when he was first in the White House, once described as a bromance , although this was not the case last.

“Congratulations President @realDonaldTrump. Ready to work together as we have done for four years,” Macron wrote on X last month. “With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”

Later that evening, he and Trump spoke by telephone, Macron’s office said.

The French president has made a new push to win favor with the returning president and his allies. CNN has reported that Macron plans to invite Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whom the president-elect has tapped for a role in his administration, to a summit on artificial intelligence in Paris in early February.

Trump will not be the only American envoy in Paris on Saturday. First Lady Jill Biden will also attend the ceremony as she completes her final official state trip abroad. However, she is not scheduled to visit the Élysée Palace or attend any high-profile meetings.

Saturday’s trip comes a week after Trump announced he had chosen the father of Jared Kushner’s son-in-law, real estate developer Charles Kushner, to be the next U.S. ambassador to France. Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump in 2020 after pleading guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission.

Macron will not be the first G7 leader to work personally with Trump since the election. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida on November 29 and dined with him at Mar-a-Lago.

At dinner, Trump joked – during a discussion of his proposed tariffs – that Canada could avoid any pain by becoming the 51st U.S. state, two sources briefed on the conversation told CNN.

“The president annoyed us,” Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, sitting at the same table, told reporters in Ottawa. “Of course, that was by no means a serious comment on this topic.”