Trump arrives in Paris for Bastille Day parade, tete-a-tete with Macron

DEBKAfile was founded by a team of journalists in June 2000 as an independent Internet Web site, providing an intelligence and security news service. July 13, 2017, 1:12 PM (IDT)

US President Donald Trump arrived Thursday morning in Paris to participate in the celebrations for France’s national day and hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. The date is also historically significant for the US as it is the 100th anniversary of the US entry into World War I.
Despite the rift between the two leaders on many issues, Macron said in an interview published Thursday that France and the US have “an essential point of convergence: fighting terrorism and protecting our vital interests”. Their talks on Thursday will cover counterterror efforts including the war on ISIS as well as French military operations against jihadists in North Africa, among other issues. Both the US and France are nuclear powers with permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
On Friday, Trump will stand alongside Macron on the viewing stand for the main event of Bastille Day, the annual military parade on the Champs Elysees of thousands of soldiers, firefighters, police and detachments of foreign troops, among others. Nearly 200 US soldiers will be among the marchers, and for the first time the traditional flypast by military jets will include US F-16 and F-22 warplanes.   
Following the parade, Trump will travel to the French city of Nice to mark the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack in which an ISIS adherent killed 86 people by ramming a truck into Bastille Day crowds.

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