‘Not gold leaf, the real deal’: Macron tries to court Trump with lavish Versailles dinner

Updated June 18, 2026 — 8:56am,first published 6:24am

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London: French builders needed 100,000 sheets of gold leaf to decorate the royal gate at Versailles when they reconstructed the entrance to the palace in 2008.

French President Emmanuel Macron clearly hoped for a return on the investment when he hosted Donald Trump at the palace almost two decades later.

The US president arrived at Versailles for a lavish dinner that was meant to mark the anniversary of American independence, but was designed to ease tensions with a man who is prone to picking fights with Europe.

And Trump’s love of gold seemed to be one of the reasons he chose to prolong his stay in France after attending the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva.

“The French president, who happens to be a very nice man, invited me to dinner at Versailles,” Trump said on Tuesday. “And Versailles is not gold leaf. Versailles is the real deal.”

Trump repeated his interest in the gold of Versailles at his closing press conference at the G7, shortly before he boarded Air Force One and flew across France to make it for dinner.

In the streets around the palace, however, some residents thought Trump did not deserve the invitation.

“It would make sense if he was a real peacemaker,” one man told France........

© The Age