Trump’s ‘America First’ collides with Macron’s ‘Europe First’ in face-off over Western dominance

From the start, Emmanuel Macron believed he could manage Donald Trump. In private conversations with European counterparts early in Trump’s first term, Macron reportedly boasted that he could "handle" the American president — flatter him, reason with him and keep him inside the Western fold. For a time, it worked: Trump was treated to a red-carpet Bastille Day parade in Paris and called the young French leader a "great friend."But the relationship soon turned into a running spectacle. The two leaders’ chemistry has always mixed cooperation with rivalry.TRUMP’S SWIPE AT ‘WEAK’ LEADERS HIGHLIGHT