When Donnie met Manu, it looked like the beginning of a fine bromance.
Theresa May perhaps doesn’t want to hear it, but US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron appear to have struck up the defining ‘special relationship’ of the late 2010s.
“You are our oldest ally and you are truly one of our great allies,” said Trump, not holding back, during a White House news conference.
“We will always be there for you.”
While the ‘Friends’ theme-tune sadly failed to strike up on cue, it got a lot more personal than that.
Here are five weird moments from Macron’s three-day state visit to Washington that will have body language experts licking their lips.
1. ′We Have To Make Him Perfect’
With shades of toxic masculinity, Trump brushed what he said was dandruff from Macron’s shoulder on Tuesday during a show for the cameras at the White House Oval Office.
“We have a very special relationship, in fact I’ll get that little piece of dandruff off,” Trump declared to reporters as the two leaders posed for photos before a meeting.
“We have to make him perfect. He is perfect,” added Trump, flicking his fingers across Macron’s dark-suited shoulder.
It’s unclear whether anything actually was on Macron’s shoulder.
Pop psychologists seized on the exchange ...
2. ‘He Is Doing A Great Job’
Macron’s visit was one of the handsiest of Trump’s presidency.
This time it went beyond the pumping, uber-macho power handshakes of last year as Trump and Macron seemed to take any opportunity they could to hold hands.
At one point Trump concluded questions from reporters by taking his new bestie and dragging him to their next engagement.
Trump gushed: “He is doing a great job. He will be a great President of France.”
3. ‘I Like Him A Lot’
We call this part, Macron’s Revenge.
At the joint press conference, Macron went in for what seemed to be a standard Trump power-play - a handshake that lasts a few seconds longer than it should. But the French President deployed his special move.
After shaking his hand, patting him on the back, Macron went in for a kiss on the cheek.
In a particularly baller move, Macron pulled Trump towards him, rather than making the cursory lean-in. Absolute scenes ensued.
4. ‘I Love The Tree’
Macron brought a gift - a sapling from Belleau Wood in northern France, where American marines suffered heavy losses defeating the Germans in the First World War, a hundred years ago.
“I love the tree. It’s a great honour,” Trump said. But the pictures brought the weird.
Macron and Trump were hunched over the sapling, shovelling dirt while Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump looked on, in an image that recalled the family politics of dark American TV drama.
By contrast, another photo made the four of them look like they were about to start belting out ‘Mull Of Kintyre’.
5. And When There Are No Words ...
