Social media users erupted over President-elect Trump's "dominating" handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at their meeting in Paris Saturday.
Trump traveled to France to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, his first international trip since winning the 2024 presidential election. Ahead of the event, Trump met Macron, and the two shook hands in a gesture that quickly went viral online.
"President Trump is back to dominating world leaders with his handshake," one user, George, wrote in a post on X. "Macron is going to need a hand massage after all that twisting and pulling Trump did to him."
"President Trump manhandles French President Emmanuel Macron with one of the most dominating handshakes I’ve ever seen," said commentator Drew Hernandez. "We are so back."
Colin Rugg wrote, "7 years later and the handshake battle continues between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron."
During a meeting in 2017, during Trump's first term in office, the two world leaders had a 29-second handshake and appeared to be tugging back and forth as they walked with their wives.
"The Trump-Macron handshake is hilarious," author John Lefevre said in a post on X. "Because it happened twice. And you know Macron was told to prepare and probably practiced and then still got dominated."
Trump's handshakes with world leaders have gone viral over the years, including when he pulled in Russian President Putin's arm during a handshake at the G-20 Summit in 2019.
Trump attended the reopening ceremony alongside political figures, including first lady Jill Biden and Prince William.
President-elect Trump met with world leaders ahead of the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral as he steps back onto the global stage following his election victory.
Trump traveled to France on Saturday to attend the reopening of Notre Dame, the famous cathedral that suffered serious damage during a fire five years ago. The trip marks Trump's first international trip since he was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in office.
Trump's diplomacy was on full display during the trip as he met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris. The pair was later joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"It's a great honor for French people to welcome you five years later," Macron said of Trump. "And you were, at that time, president for the first time. And I remember the solidarity and your immediate action. So, welcome back again. We are very happy to have you here."
Trump is expected to meet with Prince William, who is attending the event in place of his father, King Charles III, after the ceremony, according to Kensington Palace.
President Biden is not expected to attend the event, however, First Lady Jill Biden will be present.
William was scheduled to meet with the First Lady at the UK residence in Paris, but due to weather, the meeting was canceled, and the two will meet at the ceremony.
Zelenskyy said Article 5 might not apply to all of Ukraine's territory if it joins NATO, to not drag other member states into war.
Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing this week for NATO to invite Ukraine to join its alliance.
He said on Sunday that NATO's self-defense pact wouldn't have to apply to Ukraine's occupied territory.
His proposals come amid anticipation that Trump's incoming team will stall Ukraine's NATO accession.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that his country could join NATO without the alliance's collective self-defense agreement applying to its territory occupied by Russia.
That suggestion means that Article 5, which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all, wouldn't automatically drag the rest of the alliance into war with Moscow if Ukraine joins.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that any invitation for Ukraine to join NATO still has to recognize all of its territory as Ukrainian, including areas occupied by Russia.
He said his reason was that NATO/the alliance couldn't extend an invitation to only a "part of the territory of Ukraine,"per Ukrainian media.
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine "would never accept" an accession plan that says otherwise.
"But we understand that Article 5, when you're a member of NATO, cannot apply to the entire territory of Ukraine during wartime, as countries are against the risks of being drawn into the war," he said.
Such a proposal could essentially split Ukraine into two regions as far as NATO is concerned. The region that includes all of Ukraine's current territory, like Kyiv and Kharkiv, would have to be defended. There would be no obligation for the rest, which is the Ukrainian territory seized by Russia in the east.
Ukraine launched a campaign this week to pressure NATO into extending an invitation to Kyiv, a move the alliance already promised in 2008 would eventually happen. NATO has not provided a specific timeline for when that invitation might be extended.
On Friday, Zelenskyy told Sky News that he would be willing to freeze the front lines if whatever territory Ukraine still holds is placed under the "NATO umbrella."
"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," he said at the time.
This indicates that Ukraine would cede its occupied land, at least temporarily, in exchange for a cease-fire with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
It's a concept that Zelenskyy has adamantly rejected before.
In April, he called a land swap for peace a "very primitive idea."Discussion of such a plan emerged that month because of reports that President-elect Donald Trump was thinking of championing it. He was still running for president at the time.
Now, the Ukrainian president is recalibrating his conditions for NATO membership. This reconsideration comes as US support for Ukraine sits on the cusp of extreme change. His renewed effort to join the alliance comes amid anticipation that Trump and his advisors would pressure Kyiv into negotiating a quick end to the fighting while withholding membership indefinitely.
There are, however, fears that Russia may renege on a cease-fire — as Putin has done several times in the past — or that such a deal could create a split of Ukraine reminiscent of Cold-War Germany.
Many who want an immediate resolution to the fighting in Ukraine hope that it will relieve the economic strain the war has brought to the globe.
Ukraine is a major supplier of corn and wheat, and while a US-led corridor has allowed it to start selling much of its accumulated stock, its exports are estimated to take several years to hit pre-war levels.
Meanwhile, European reliance on Russian energy has led to a complicated situation, where Ukraine is still allowing Russian gas to transit through its borders to Western customers despite the war.
That arrangement, agreed upon in 2019, is set to expire at the end of the year. Both Moscow and Kyiv have said they're not ready to renew the contract, though there is talk from Ukraine of extending it.
Several European countries, including Slovakia and Hungary, expressed concern that their energy markets could be skewered by a nonrenewal, though many are starting to replace their gas by buying from the US and Canada instead. Hungary, in particular, hopes a pipeline through Turkey will help to sustain its supply of Russian gas.
President Biden approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine late Tuesday, a reversal of policy and yet another escalation in the conflict with Russia ahead of President-elect Trump's inauguration.
Ukrainian officials have reportedly promised to only deploy the mines in Ukrainian territory and away from major population centers. The U.S. had previously withheld anti-personnel mines because of their tendency to outlast conflicts once deployed and cause injury to innocents.
The U.S. has reportedly taken precautions to prevent such injuries, however. The mines being delivered to Ukraine operate on an electric fuse that relies on a battery. That battery typically runs out over the course of hours or even weeks, and it is then inoperative, according to CBS News.
The Biden administration's approval came the same day that Ukraine used American-made ATACMs in a strike on Russian soil. Biden had prohibited such uses until last week.
Allies of President-elect Trump have blasted the Biden administration for approving Ukraine's escalation of its conflict with Russia in the final months before Trump takes office.
"The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives," Donald Trump Jr. posted on social media after Biden's long-range missile approval. "Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be dammed!!! Imbeciles!"
According to a senior U.S. official, Biden's actions are spurred by the Russian decision to invite 10,000 North Korean soldiers into the fight against Ukraine in Kursk. A second official told Fox News that it is unclear if Biden plans to approve the use of the missiles outside the Kursk region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted by updating Russia's nuclear weapon use doctrines. The White House National Security Council downplayed that reaction.
"As we said earlier this month, we were not surprised by Russia’s announcement that it would update its nuclear doctrine; Russia had been signaling its intent to update its doctrine for several weeks. Observing no changes to Russia’s nuclear posture, we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture or doctrine in response to Russia’s statements today," an NSC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"This is more of the same irresponsible rhetoric from Russia, which we have seen for the past two years. As we said to Russia weeks ago, Russia’s use of DPRK soldiers in combat operations against Ukraine presents a significant escalation of its war of choice against Ukraine and we warned that the United States would respond," the statement continued.
The announcement came after Great Britain and France authorized Ukraine to launch SCALP/Storm Shadow missile strikes, according to French outlet Le Figaro.
Putin has previously said that giving Ukraine the green light on missile use would effectively mean that the U.S. and NATO are "in the war."
