Just over five years ago, the world watched in fear as Notre Dame Cathedral, one of Christianity’s most powerful symbols, went up in flames. Not long after, Donald Trump would lose the 2020 election to Joe Biden, ushering in one of the most unpopular presidencies in modern history.

But this weekend, this magnificent medieval structure and homage to the Holy Mother on the banks of the Seine stands in full condition, ready to accompany the faithful for another thousand years.

And who will honor this occasion? None other than President-elect Donald Trump.

TRUMP RETURNS TO EUROPE FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER WINNING THE ELECTION TO REOPEN NOTRE DAME

Although the 45th and soon-to-be 47th occupant of the Oval Office won’t be sworn in for another five weeks, it looks for all the world not only as if Trump has already taken power, but also that the issues he should be dealing with , have already begun to appear to be improving.

(Ashley J. DiMella/Fox News Digital)

After months of turmoil and dispute over Trump’s tariff policies, the threat of a 25 percent levy on foreign goods has already led to some positive signs of compromise from Mexico at the border and the appearance of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago, if not quite To kiss the ring, at least to beg to avoid the tariffs.

Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this weekend.

In Ukraine, where Biden’s recklessness and slow drain on weapons have helped turn the status quo into second nature, President Volodomir Zelensky is talking for the first time about a peace deal in which Russia retains some territory and Ukraine takes the right reserves the right to join NATO.

This is light at the end of a dark and deadly tunnel.

In the halls of Congress, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s pied pipers in the Ministry of Government Efficiency, are launching a charm offensive and even luring some Democrats with their cost-cutting project.

Elon Musk, co-chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 5, 2024; Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management, arrives for a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, December 5, 2024. (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Even the future president’s Cabinet appointments are well on track after predictable panic attacks from the liberal media, including Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel, nominated for Defense Department and FBI respectively, who have so far weathered a tsunami of cuts.

As the second Trump presidency races down the runway and prepares to take off, somewhere in a ditch lies the smoldering carcass of Joe Biden’s Hindenburg of a term.

On Friday, deeply humiliated White House Press Secretary Karinne Jean Pierre tried to explain her and her boss’s blatant lie that he would not pardon his son Hunter. Apparently, we were told, it wasn’t a lie, he just changed his mind.

OK, KJP…

To be clear, any press secretary with even an ounce of dignity would have resigned after being paraded over and over again to deceive the American public, but there she was, sitting at the podium, being paid by the American people, and still lying .

The Biden administration is reportedly exploring ways to use the weeks before Trump’s inauguration to sabotage his new administration, including pre-emptive pardons for potential targets of legitimate investigations and providing tons of foreign aid.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OPINIONS ON FOX NEWS

These last-minute efforts to thwart Trump will come to nothing because, for all intents and purposes, Joe Biden is barely president anymore. This week he looked every bit the crypt keeper at the tree lighting ceremony at the White House, and his flickering administration has all the energy of a morgue.

U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to leave for the 102nd National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Ellipse on December 5, 2024 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In the late 11th century, Peter the Hermit and Pope Urban II preached in French cathedrals for the First Crusade, which unified the West in an unprecedented way and ensured its resilience against foreign threats.

On Saturday, before the soaring towers and flying buttresses, Donald Trump takes a place in that history, in that defense of the values ​​our ancestors brought from Europe to American shores.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Few people expected that Donald Trump would win the election so convincingly, far fewer predicted that such a victory would inspire optimism and unity, and yet Trump is enjoying the greatest popularity of his political career, and it just feels that way as if things were going uphill.

In just five years, the French restored their beloved Notre Dame, not with modern touches, but as it was, as it always was. Trump only has four years to repair the cathedral we call the United States. But one thing is clear. He has a solid lead.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DAVID MARCUS