Donald Trump greeted with military fanfare in state visit to Paris

The United States president, Donald Trump, has begun a visit to Paris, greeted with military fanfare as the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, showed him Napoleon’s tomb before they began talks on Syria and counter-terrorism.

After landing in Paris early on Thursday morning, Guardian said Trump honoured American first world war veterans in a ceremony at the US embassy to mark 100 years since the US joined the conflict, while Macron was engaged in a separate meeting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

The US president then arrived at the vast, historic military complex at Les Invalides, built by the Sun King Louis XIV, where he was met with a large French army reception and joined Macron in inspecting the troops. This seemed to flatter the US president, who has described himself as “a big military person” fond of army parades.

Trump will spend 24 hours in Paris, as a guest of honour at Friday’s Bastille day celebrations.

While a row continues in Washington over allegations that his family sought to collude with Russia to win last year’s US presidential election, the US president looked relaxed, patting Macron on the shoulder several times as he began a schedule of high pomp and pageantry.

Macron has chosen to move on from his aggressive first handshake with the US leader and style himself as Trump’s new “straight-talking” friend on the international stage.

Trump firmly held Brigitte Macron’s hand as he and Melania Trump arrived to greet the Macrons at the historic site, where they were escorted to see Napoleon’s tomb.

In a live stream of the visit on Macron’s Facebook page, Trump could be heard asking Macron questions about Napoleon and French history.