President Trump began a busy day in Brussels Thursday meeting with European Union leaders and then newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron, with trade and security topping Mr. Trump’s agenda.
“We have a lot to discuss, including terrorism and other things,” Mr. Trump said before meeting with Mr. Macron at the U.S. ambassador’s residence.
“It is my great honor to be with the newly elected president of France, who ran an incredible campaign and had a tremendous victory,” he said, referencing Mr. Macron’s solid defeat of right-wing opponent Marine Le Pen.
“For my part,” said Mr. Macron, “I’m also very happy to be with President Trump. We have an extremely large agenda to discuss: the fight against terrorism, the economy, climate and energy.”
Mr. Trump is on the fifth day of his first trip abroad, which began with visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Vatican City in Rome as he sought to unify three world religions in the struggle against radical Islamic terrorism.
Later Thursday, Mr. Trump will attend his first meeting of NATO, where nervous members will be looking for the U.S. president to reaffirm commitment to the security pact, and Mr. Trump will prod them to pay their fair share for defense.
Mr. Trump rankled NATO during the campaign by calling the alliance obsolete but as president, he declared it was no longer obsolete, and his push for members to pay more has seen some early success.
He began the day at European Union headquarters, where he received a warm reception from EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The leaders met privately before holding bilateral meetings.
Upon arriving, Mr. Tusk asked Mr. Trump if he knew that the EU has two presidents.
“I know that,” Mr. Trump replied.
Mr. Juncker chimed in: “One too much.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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