By Armando Hernandez
03 Dec 2024, 00:23 AM EST
President-elect Donald Trump announced his plans to travel to Paris this weekend in what would be his first trip abroad since his election victory in November.
“I am honored to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the reopening of the magnificent and historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” Trump said in a post on Social Truth.
“President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its highest level of glory.”a, and even more. “It will be a very special day for everyone!” he continued.
This announcement did not go unnoticed, after it became the president-elect’s first known trip outside the United States since May 2023, when he visited his golf properties in Ireland and Scotland.
The historic cathedral was damaged by a fire in April 2019 and has been under reconstruction since then.. While restoration work is likely to continue for years, Notre Dame will welcome visitors on December 7.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to give a speech that day and attend the consecration of the altar during a mass presided over by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich on December 8.
More than a year after first taking office in 2018, Trump welcomed Macron to the White House during his first state dinner.
Following Trump’s election victory last month, the French leader quickly congratulated him in a post on X.
“We are ready to work together as we have done for four years,” Macron wrote. “With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”
Trump said Saturday that he would nominate Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France in his incoming administration.
At the end of his first term in 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner Sr., years after he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign donations in 2005 and served 14 months in prison.
Trump has raised broader alarm among some European allies in light of his comments during the election campaign complaining about aid to Ukraine. and threatened to encourage Russia to “do whatever it wants” with countries that did not pay enough for their defense.
Keep reading:
• A replacement is being sought for Christopher Wray at the head of the FBI, reveals JD Vance
• Donald Trump Jr. sent a message to those who he claims “sold out” his father
• Trump adds Tulsi Gabbard to his cabinet, she will be the director of National Intelligence