President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet over dinner at the Palace of Versailles near Paris after the G7 summit of leading industrialized nations next week in France, their governments announced Saturday.
G7 Summit Agenda
Trump, who is trying to make progress on finalizing an Iran war deal in the coming days, is expected to have a busy schedule of one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the summit in the French lakeside town of Evian-les-Bains, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
Macron’s office said the French president will host Trump for a dinner Wednesday to mark the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States at the Palace of Versailles, “a historic symbol of Franco-American friendship.”
Trump will also meet with Macron after the Republican president arrives in France on Monday afternoon. Trump will depart Washington after celebrating his 80th birthday with a primetime mixed martial arts show on the White House lawn Sunday.
Trump also plans separate talks with the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and India, officials told reporters on Saturday. Those countries are attending the summit at Macron’s invitation.
Leaders of the G7 countries — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — are meeting to discuss economic growth and development, strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, illegal immigration and artificial intelligence, among other issues.
The wars in Ukraine and Iran are also expected to be front and center. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be at the summit. A formal meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy is not currently scheduled, officials told reporters, though they could meet on the sidelines.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
