President Donald Trump criticized the power-grabbing handshake he exchanged with French President Emmanuel Macon during a weekend meeting with the Post, but the president-elect insisted it was no big deal.
“Just a solid shake. He understands that. It's just a solid shake,” Trump told the Post.
Their handshake went viral on Saturday when they met before the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and President Trump and Macron used their signature grip in a particularly aggressive manner as they posed for the press. Repeated twice.
During the first handshake, Trump held Macron's hand firmly and pulled him in for a hug, then continued to hold the French president's hand for a long time as photographers pointed at him.
President Trump then clasped Macron with both hands and raised his arm over the French president in a clearly domineering posture.
But the two men also discussed policy, and Trump said they agreed that NATO countries would “pay their fair share” to the European military alliance.
“I said NATO is good as long as they pay their bills, but they have to pay their bills, because when I got involved with NATO, no one paid. Because they paid for it after I got involved,” Trump told the Post.
The two presidents have fought over NATO during Trump's last term, with Macron saying in 2019 that U.S. leadership was leaving the alliance “brain dead.”
Meanwhile, President Trump called allies' contributions to the defense budget “delinquent,” citing World Wars I and II, and said France had more contributions to NATO than any other European nation. argued that it was necessary.
Now, both leaders appear to be trying to make amends in the new Trump era.
“He agrees with me,” Trump said, adding that he praised Macron for France's efforts to restore Notre Dame Cathedral, which was destroyed in a devastating fire in 2019.
“He's a good man and he did a good job,” Trump said.
“I told him, 'You have no idea what a great job you did in that chapel.' It's very difficult. It's exhausting.”
