US President-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris this Saturday, marking his first overseas trip since winning the 2020 US presidential election, Al Jazeera reports.
The announcement, made via a post on his Truth Social platform, confirms Trump’s presence at the unveiling of the fully restored 12th-century Gothic masterpiece, severely damaged by a devastating fire in 2019.
Dozens of world leaders are expected to gather for the event, which French President Emmanuel Macron has described as the healing of a “national wound.” Trump’s statement expressed the honor of attending the reopening of the “magnificent and historic” cathedral.
This visit comes against a backdrop of a complex relationship between Trump and Macron. While Macron was among the first to congratulate Trump on his re-election and was even the guest of honor at a state dinner during Trump’s first term, the two leaders have also clashed on issues such as Trump’s skepticism towards NATO and France’s tax policies targeting US tech companies.
Interestingly, during the 2019 fire, Trump publicly suggested using “flying water tankers” to extinguish the blaze – a suggestion dismissed by French authorities who warned of the risk of structural collapse.
The restoration of Notre-Dame was made possible by an impressive €846 million ($887.4 million) in donations from approximately 340,000 donors across 150 countries. The five-year project, involving hundreds of experts and 250 companies, had an estimated cost of nearly €700 million ($734.3 million). Restoration chief Philippe Jost recently announced that the remaining €140 million ($147 million) in surplus funds will be allocated to future preservation efforts.
