His tactics opened the door for a weekend of head turns and surprise, not least that President Trump remained, smiling and shaking hands with the host to the very end.
This was a stark contrast to Trump's early entry into the last G-7 and evidence of Macron's diplomatic diplomacy.
The rationale that Macron gave behind his cancellation on the eve – "this is pointless" – was a reference to Trump's refusal to sign last year's communique in Canada.
To some of the White House, Macron's motives seemed more ruthless. They complained about the G-7 program, which favors Macron rather than Trump, leaving the US president with little time to express his own perceived economic wisdom.
Without the communique, which is often a largely pre-arranged endpoint to the summit race through a global crisis, only he, Macron, would have known the route, allowing him to plan a few surprises along the way, which he did. seemingly perfect.
On Sunday, enter Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the invitation of Macron, arriving almost unprecedented in such events. And so the chaos began.
Shortly before Zarif Trump's arrival, he denied supporting Macron to negotiate with Iran on behalf of the G7, and Trump's aides said Zarif's visit was a "crooked ball."
By early Monday, Trump was turning his course and playing alongside Macron's secret diplomacy. He said that not only did he know that Zarif was coming, he authorized Macron to invite him.
"He talks to me," Trump said. "He asked me. I said if you want to do it, it's OK. I don't consider it disrespectful at all, especially when he asked me for approval."
Yet, side by side with Trump during a joint press conference, Macron deftly challenged Trump's account of the events, saying he did it for France and not the G7.
"I did it myself, I informed – before I did it [inviting Zarif] President Trump was informed of the situation," Macron said.
If Trump blanches, it will not be noticed. Macron received what he had been asking for months, forcing the US president closer to reducing tensions with Iran, declaring that "at one time or another, there should be a meeting between the President of Iran and the President of the United States." Macron even suggested it might be coming in a few weeks.
Trump gave conditional consent, saying, "If the circumstances are right or right, I would certainly agree to that," and added, "In the meantime, they must be good players."
Trump spent the weekend rethinking his international image, relying equally on spin and half-truths. Not from the weird guy who was in Quebec G7, but a brilliant player on the team, Trump said there were "no arguments" that "we all get along great" and "a lot of unity." [19659002] It was unclear if anyone the leaders were really buying his bonhomie, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel was able to smile or two with Trump, much better than their past frosty encounters, not least last year's G7.
Iran, it seems to have tamed Macron's expectations that Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may meet soon.
"We've had a lot of productive conversations on this, but it's still moving and moving slowly forward, but it has a very long way to go," she said.
However, Trump's plans for de-escalation have advanced so far that he is ready to bring Iran to the table.
"They may need a short-term letter of credit or a loan. No, we don't pay. We don't pay. But they may need some money to get it through a very rough patch," he said.
News British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was slipping of Macron's fantastic diplomatic work. Greeting him at a dinner on Saturday, where Macron first warned Zarif leaders, Johnson said, "Well done. Bien joe. You are doing well. You did very well last night, my God. That was difficult. "
It was not entirely clear what Johnson was referring to, but even if Macron's initiative did not survive through Trump's transatlantic flight, he appears to have put on a new tape dealing with the worst American president in living history. [19659031]
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