A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
French President Emmanuel Macron is in Washington today, where he will meet with President Trump in the Oval Office.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yeah. European leaders were stunned by President Trump's abrupt reversal of alliances last week. He accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia. Ukraine did not start the war. And Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator, while letting Russian President Vladimir Putin off the hook for its full-scale invasion of its neighbor. In meetings today, Macron will try to keep Trump on board with the U.S.' traditional allies.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley is in Paris following all this. So, Eleanor, what arguments will he try to try and get through to President Trump?
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Well, yeah, A, Macron's going to try to convince Trump that it's in America's strategic interests not to make some deal with the Russians without involving the Europeans. He'll present a European action plan to help achieve a peace deal that is durable, with solid guarantees that Russia won't use the time to build up its forces and invade Ukraine again. Macron must make Trump understand that Russia poses an existential threat to Europe. And to do this, he'll be relying on his personal friendship with President Trump. Macron is probably the closest to Trump of all the European leaders, with the exception of Hungary's Viktor Orban, and he's going to appeal to Trump's ego and inner deal-maker. In fact, Macron actually told us what he would say to Trump in a live question-and-answer session broadcast on Instagram last week. Let's have a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "I'm going to tell him, you can't be weak in front of Putin. That's not you." He said he'd tell Trump, that's not your brand, and it's not in your interest. How are you going to be credible in front of China if you're weak in front of Russia? And Macron said he would also emphasize that Trump cannot help someone, i.e. Vladimir Putin, who's actually helping Iran develop the nuclear bomb.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So what are European leaders like Macron proposing?
BEARDSLEY: Well, last week, there were two emergency meetings out of Paris after Trump's comments about the war. A couple dozen leaders attended. France and Britain, who are Europe's only nuclear powers, are said to be ready to provide the backbone of a European military force to secure any peace deal in Ukraine. That would include boots on the ground, in the air, and even ships at sea. Other countries that could join include Finland, Sweden and the Baltics. The problem is Putin has said any European troops in Ukraine is a red line. Now, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also expected to meet with Trump this week. I spoke with Gesine Weber. She's expert in security and defense at the U.S. German Marshall Fund in Paris. And she said at first, Macron and Starmer planned to meet together with Trump, but now they have separated their visits. Let's listen.
GESINE WEBER: Could be smart to have this sequencing of the visits, to reinforce the message and potentially also adapt it and coordinate it. So if Macron manages to speak for the Europeans and Starmer manages to speak for the Europeans, that can actually be a message amplifier.
BEARDSLEY: But, A, some analysts say it's already too late for the Europeans because Trump so wants to cut a deal with Putin.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Trump has demanded that Europeans contribute more to their security. So are they willing to do this long term?
BEARDSLEY: Well, first of all, we have to say - Europe has given more for the war in Ukraine if you add military, financial and humanitarian. But, yes, this is a big wake-up call. For the second time, their transatlantic ally looks like it might not always have their back, so they are ready to increase. Many nations are spending more and say they will. But everything is going on at such an accelerated pace now, and it's going to take time to get those defense industries going.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR international correspondent Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Eleanor, thanks.
BEARDSLEY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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