Joe Biden was a notable absence at the inauguration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. First Lady Jill Biden represented the U.S. However, she was quickly overshadowed by President-elect Donald Trump, who was making his first overseas visit since winning the election, at the unveiling of Notre Dame’s new rooftop, to have surprise meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the evening, before taking the plane back to Florida, he will also have talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Britain’s Prince William.
A handshake, a hug to exchange a few whispered words, then a photo with the French president and his wife Brigitte Macron, and Trump entered the Elysee Palace, where Zelensky was waiting for them. The Ukrainian leader, at the end of the meeting, commented that it was “good and productive.” “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X. “We talked about our people, the situation on the ground, and a just peace. We agreed to continue working together and stay in touch. Peace through strength is possible.”
As a result of Trump’s campaign threats to suspend funding to Ukraine, President Zelensky took immediate action after Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 election. For weeks he has been tapping the most loyal MAGAs to negotiate the first exchanges. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, has just returned home after a meeting in the United States with Vice President-elect JD Vance and future National Security Advisor Mike Walz.
Attending the opening of the new cathedral, after nearly six years of renovation following a fire that destroyed the roof in April 2019, are at least 40 heads of state and governments, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella as well as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, celebrity spouses Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, former French Presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, and Trump’s now right-hand man Elon Musk.
