“The right attitude” “Macron has enough experience to adopt the right attitude,” said Celia Belin, US specialist at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank. But, she cautioned, “there is no guarantee that it will work.” Macron and Trump both started their first presidential terms in 2017 and kicked off their relationship with a mix of charm offensives and mutual backslapping. But the “bromance” approach did not work out as planned for Macron, who failed to persuade Trump to stay in the Paris climate agreement and the international deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program. However, despite occasional barbs aimed at the French president, Trump attended the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in December, and they have talked by telephone regularly since. Macron “spoiled” Trump a few times, said Belin, “received him in style, honored him, and that counts for something.” “Totally without filter” While Macron has lost influence domestically since he dissolved parliament and called elections last year, “he still carries a certain weight on the international scene,” said Paul Taylor, senior fellow at the European Policy Centre think tank. “Especially in defense matters because he is still commander-in-chief of the armed forces,” he said. Macron is also supported by most European leaders on his Washington mission, despite deep differences within the EU on the question of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine to guarantee any future deal. The French president will feel confident about promising Trump greater European efforts to ensure their own defense, the French presidency said. At the same time, he will urge him to continue supporting Ukraine, “supply the necessary military support and respect its sovereignty”. It remains to be seen whether the message gets through, say analysts. Trump failed to mention Ukraine’s territorial integrity as part of his efforts to end the conflict, and flatly stated that France and Britain “haven’t done anything” to end the war. Whatever the outcome, the tone of the Washington talks is likely to be robust and “totally without a filter,” said one source close to the French presidency.