PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris on Saturday with a full a dose of presidential pomp and they held an impromptu meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelenskyy on a day that mixed pageantry with attention to pressing global problems.

Trump, the once and future American president, said when he arrived at the Elysee Palace for a face-to-face meeting with Macron — soon expanded to include Zelenskyy — that the two would be discussing a world that’s gone “a little crazy.”

Trump’s visit to France, part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire, came as Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Macron’s office said that would be discussed as well as the wars in the Middle East.

As Trump arrived at the official residence of the French president, Macron went out of his way to project an image of close ties, posing for multiple handshakes interspersed with plenty of back-patting. Trump said it was “a great honor” and talked about the “great relationship” they have had. A grand red carpet was rolled in the same way the French welcome sitting American presidents.

Before they went inside, Trump said, “It certainly seems like the world is, going a little crazy right now. And we’ll be talking about that.”

Zelenskyy arrived at the palace about 45 minutes after Trump.

Macron had planned to meet with Zelenskyy, and the French president’s office said the three-way meeting was proposed by Macron and arranged shortly before Trump’s arrival. Trump has pledged to end the war in Ukraine swiftly but has not specified how, raising concerns in Kyiv about what terms may be laid out for any future negotiations.

Macron, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, has made a point of cultivating a relationship since the Republican defeated Democrat Kamala Harris last month. But Macron’s office nonetheless played down the significance of the invitation, saying other politicians not now in office had been invited as well.

Trump was invited as president-elect of a “friendly nation,” Macron’s office said, adding, “This is in no way exceptional, we’ve done it before.”

The red carpet treatment, however, was a sign of how eager both Macron and other European leaders are to win Trump’s favor and placate him even before he takes office.

Trump is known to revel in pomp and circumstance. One of his first trips as president his first term was to Paris, where Macron made him the the guest of honor at Bastille Day events. Trump later said he wanted to replicate the grand military parade back in the United States.

Democratic President Joe Biden was invited as well but will not attend. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited a scheduling conflict and said first lady Jill Biden will represent the United States.

The meeting with the French president is taking place before the Notre Dame event, as will the get-together with Prince William, who’s also scheduled to meet with Jill Biden, according to the British royal palace.

In an effort to build trust with the incoming U.S. administration, Zelenskyy’s top aide Andriy Yermak met key members of Trump’s team on a two-day trip earlier this week. A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, described the meetings as productive, but declined to disclose details.

Relations between France and the U.S. during Trump’s first term began warmly enough but grew increasingly strained over time.

Macron was the guest of honor at Trump’s first state dinner, and Trump traveled to France several times. But the relationship suffered after Macron criticized Trump for questioning the need for NATO and raising doubts about America’s commitment to the mutual defense pact.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump often mocked Macron, imitating his accent and threatening to impose steep tariffs on wine and champagne bottles shipped to the U.S. if France tried to tax American companies.

But Macron was one of the first global leaders to congratulate Trump last month after the election.

When he accepted the invitation to travel to Paris, Trump said Macron had done “a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!” A fire in 2019 nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark.

More than 20 French government security agents were helping ensure Trump’s safety alongside the Secret Service, according to French national police. A special French police van provided anti-drone protection for Trump’s convoy.

Security was tighter than usual outside the U.S. Embassy and other sites around Paris for the Notre Dame reopening, where dozens of international VIPs were expected.

Trump was president in 2019 when the fire engulfed Notre Dame, collapsing its spire and threatening to destroy one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures, known for its mesmerizing stained glass.

“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” he wrote on what was then Twitter, offering his advice to the city.

“Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!” he wrote.

French officials appeared to respond shortly after, noting that “All means” were being used to extinguish the flames, “except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”

Last weekend, Trump announced that he intends to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Predecessors in that prestigious role include Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Colin from New York. Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

PARIS (AP) — The reopening this weekend of Notre Dame is a succession of ceremonies to breathe life back into the iconic cathedral and celebrate the recovery from its devastating fire in 2019.

High points will be the ritualized reopening of the cathedral’s massive doors, the reawakening of its thunderous organ and the celebration of the first Mass. For both France and the Catholic Church, the televised and tightly scripted ceremonies will be an opportunity to display can-do resilience and global influence.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and dozens of heads of state and government accepted invites from French President Emmanuel Macron. The Catholic faithful are so eager to worship again inside Notre Dame that tickets for the first week of Masses were snapped up in 25 minutes, the cathedral’s rector says.

During part one of Notre Dame’s rebirth on Saturday evening, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will lead more than 1,500 guests through a reopening service. Part two, on Sunday, is an inaugural Mass, with special rites to consecrate the main altar.

On Saturday, Ulrich will first reopen Notre Dame’s great doors — by tapping them with his crosier, or bishop’s staff.

The staff was created for the occasion by designer Sylvain Dubuisson. The wood — bearing visible black traces from the blaze — came from pieces of the cathedral roof that collapsed in the inferno, Dubuisson told The Associated Press.

In response to the archbishop’s door-knocks, the cathedral will erupt into song, its choirs once again filling the cavernous spaces.

That back-and-forth will happen three times. The doors will then open so guests can stream inside past their sculptures of biblical figures.

The voice of Notre Dame’s great organ hasn’t been heard in public since the blaze coated the nearly 8,000 pipes with toxic dust released when the lead roofing burned.

After the door-opening rites, Ulrich will reawaken the giant instrument. He’ll address it directly with a series of eight incantations, starting with “Awaken, organ, sacred instrument: Sing the praise of God.”

That prompt will launch a conversation with the organ, with four organists (Olivier Latry, Vincent Dubois, Thibault Fajoles and Thierry Escaich) taking turns to play its responses.

They’ll be perched high above the congregation, seated at the newly renovated giant console that controls the instrument — through five keyboards of 56 notes each, foot pedals for 30 notes, and 115 stops.

Latry says he and the other organists will improvise their responses to the archbishop’s prompts — depending on their own and the congregation’s mood.

“Since it’s improvisation, you really need to feel the moment,” Latry told AP.

“When I am there, I will know what I am going to do. Before that, I simply have a few ideas but the ideas are not fully formed — because they will change depending on the atmosphere, the lighting, the people who’ll be down below, their reaction.”

The organ has a vast palette of sounds to play with. The deepest of its 7,952 pipes are as large as a human torso, producing a low rumbling sound. The smallest are no larger than a pen.

The painstaking re-tuning of the organ — after it was dismantled, cleaned and put back together — took around six months, with tuners working at night so they could tweak the notes in silence.

Before the fire, efforts to fund renovations of the nearly 900-year-old cathedral had been struggling. But that changed with the blaze.

“We had an outpouring of support,” says fund-raising committee member Michel Picaud. “I received 400 donations an hour, so my smartphone completely crashed.”

In all, 340,000 people from more than 150 countries donated 846 million euros (US$364 million), the public body in charge of Notre Dame’s restauration says. The support testifies to global affection for the monument that transcends frontiers and faiths.

“It’s something which belongs to everybody,” Picaud told AP. The nonprofit he leads, Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, has raised $57 million from 50,000 international donors, most of them Americans.

“It’s not only a Parisian cathedral or monument,” he said. “All over the world, I think, people have the feeling that this is part of their — I would say — heritage.”

At the reopening, billionaire donors from France and beyond will rub shoulders with other guests far less fortunate.

They’ll include “the poorest among Parisians, all those who are helped by charitable associations and who will be several hundred inside the cathedral,” Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, Notre Dame’s rector, told AP.

Although construction work continues outside, the restored interiors look more magnificent than they have for generations.

The limestone walls are creamy and luminous, cleaned of years of accumulated grime. Vaulted ceilings that collapsed have been repaired. The archbishop and other members have new garments, from a designer who has also dressed Beyoncé, Rihanna and others. The cathedral also has new furniture, including a new altar to replace one crushed when the flaming spire collapsed.

The rector says “no one alive has seen the cathedral” as it looks now.

“The blondness of the stone, the brilliance of the paintings, the light through the stained glass windows, all the artworks, all the paintings, that were cleaned, the statues that were restored,” he said.

“All of that did not exist before the fire.”

AP journalists Thomas Adamson and Alex Turnbull contributed to this report.

For more of AP’s coverage on Notre Dame, visit https://apnews.com/hub/notre-dame-cathedral

Five years after a fire tore through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the results of intensive and painstaking renovation work on the building were revealed ahead of its reopening on Dec. 8.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, toured the site, with video of their visit broadcast live. “This is overwhelming,” he said as he viewed the glistening, cleaned white stones, Reuters reported.

About 1,300 workers waited outside the cathedral for Macron’s arrival, with some expressing relief that the project finished on schedule.

“It was an exceptional renovation project,” said stone carver Samir Abbas, 38.

France and the world watched in horror on April 15, 2019, as a fire that started in the roof space engulfed the structure in flames. Nearly 400 firefighters worked for nine hours to try to preserve the facade and works of art in the cathedral.

The cathedral will reopen to the public Dec. 8. Visitors will be able to make reservations via the cathedral’s website up to two days in advance, or there will be a queue for people without reservations.