NEW YORK – President-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, his first foreign trip since the election.
The cathedral is expected to reopen on Saturday after more than five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019 that nearly destroyed the Paris landmark. The events that will be held on Saturday and Sunday will be accompanied by high-level security, and it is expected that there will be around 50 heads of state and government.
Read more: Inside the Fight Over How Notre Dame Should Rise from the Ashes
Trump announced he would be among them in a post on his Real Social site Monday evening.
“It is an honor to announce that I will be going to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the reopening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which was completely renovated after a devastating fire five years ago,” he wrote. . “President Emmanuel Macron has done an excellent job of ensuring that Notre Dame is restored to its full glory, and beyond. It will be a very special day for all!”
The trip will be Trump’s first abroad since winning the November presidential election. He traveled to Scotland and Ireland in May 2023, as a candidate, visiting his local golf courses.
Trump was president in 2019 when a massive fire burned Notre Dame, destroying its treasures and threatening to destroy one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures, known for its magnificent stained glass.
Trump watched the inferno in horror, along with the rest of the world.
“It is very bad to watch the big fire in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote on what was called Twitter at the time, giving his advice to the city.
“Perhaps flying water tanks can be used to extinguish it. You must act quickly!” he wrote.
French officials appeared to respond shortly thereafter, saying nothing was being used “All means” to extinguish the flames, “except for bombers, if used, which would lead to the collapse of the entire cathedral structure.”
Trump also spoke to Macron and Pope Francis at the time, expressing his condolences and saying that he offered them “the help of our great experts in repair and construction.”
Trump and Macron have had a rocky relationship.
During Trump’s first term in office, Macron proved to be one of the most experienced world leaders in managing the American president’s ambitions as he tried to build a personal connection built in part on flattery.
Macron was the guest of honor at Trump’s first dinner and Trump has traveled to France several times. But relations soured as Trump’s term wore on and Macron criticized him for questioning the need for NATO and raising doubts about America’s commitment to the defense pact.
While running for a second term this year, Trump often taunted Macron on the campaign trail, mimicking his speech and threatening to impose tariffs on bottles of wine and champagne sent to the US if France tried to impose tariffs on American companies.
After Trump won another term last month, Macron scrambled to curry favor with the president-elect. He was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump – even before the Associated Press called the race in his favor – and beat UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to a phone call to congratulate him.
“Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump,” Macron wrote on X early Nov 6. “We are ready to work together as we have for four years. With your beliefs and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”
Macron and other European leaders are trying to persuade Trump not to end US support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for nearly three years. European leaders are hoping to convince Trump that Russia’s victory will be seen as a defeat for the US – and the incoming president, by extension – in hopes of selling him on the need to pursue an end to the war that favors Kyiv rather than him. may want otherwise.
Trump announced over the weekend that he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be ambassador to France. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years ago to tax evasion and making illegal campaign contributions.
Notre Dame’s reopening will be an elaborate, multi-day celebration that begins Saturday.
Read more: The History of Notre Dame Cathedral Has Been One of Destruction and Restoration
Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will lead a reopening service that afternoon, knocking on the closed doors of Notre Dame and his staff to reopen it, according to the cathedral’s website.
The archbishop will also symbolically resurrect the great organ of Notre Dame’s fame. The fire that melted the cathedral’s lead roof covered the massive instrument in toxic dust. Its 8,000 pipes were carefully dismantled, cleaned and re-installed.
Macron will attend and speak to VIP guests.
After the service, opera singers Pretty Yende, from South Africa, and Julie Fuchs, from France; Chinese pianist Lang Lang; Paris-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Benin-born singer Angelique Kidjo; Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji and others will perform at the concert on Saturday evening, according to the program’s broadcaster, France Télévisions.
On Sunday morning, the archbishop of Paris will lead the first Mass and consecration of the new altar.
About 170 bishops from France and other countries will participate in the celebration, as well as priests from all 106 dioceses of the Paris diocese. The Mass will be followed by a “fraternity meal” for the needy.
The Ile de la Cité, where the cathedral sits in the middle of the Seine River, will be off limits to tourists for events. A public observatory with room for 40,000 spectators will be built on the south bank of the Seine.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report from Washington.
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