No ordinary double date: Trumps, Macrons at Mount Vernon

DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Washington, US.-Tending to bonding before business, President Donald Trump and France’s Emmanuel Macron opened the French president’s visit with an anything-but-ordinary double date with their wives at George Washington’s house.

The presidents and their spouses hopped on a helicopter bound for Mount Vernon, Washington’s historic riverside home, for a private dinner one night before the leaders sit down for talks on a weighty agenda including security, trade and the Iran nuclear deal.

Macron’s pomp-filled three-day state visit to Washington underscores the importance that both sides attach to the relationship: Macron, who calls Trump often, has emerged as something of a “Trump whisperer” at a time when the American president’s relationships with other European leaders are more strained. Trump, who attaches great importance to the optics of pageantry and ceremony, chose to honor Macron with the first state visit of his administration as he woos the French president.

¡“This is a great honor and I think a very important state visit given the moment of our current environment,” Macron said.