US President Donald Trump held a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, in which Trump stressed that he believed Paris was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But these warm and praising words stand in contrast to what he said in February earlier this year. 

When delivering a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Trump quoted who he said was a good friend of his named “Jim”, who the US media questions whether or not he even exists at all. But Trump said this "Jim" used to visit Paris every year but no longer does because of terrorism fears.

CGTN’s Gary Anglebrandt reports that despite the about-face, disagreements on issues like climate change and NATO may continue to pose major obstacles to the development of US-France relations.