French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Washington this week in the first official state visit of the Trump presidency. | Charles Platiau/AFP/Getty Images French president to call for American role in Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he will call for continued U.S. intervention in Syria before a joint session of Congress this week.

“I will advocate for multilateralism,” Macron said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.“


Macron is visiting Washington this week in the first official state visit of the Trump presidency. In an interview with Chris Wallace at the presidential palace in Paris, Macron said he has a “special relationship“ with President Donald Trump, describing them both as political outsiders.

“Both of us are probably the maverick of the systems on both sides,” Macron said. “President Trump’s election was unexpected in your country and probably my election was unexpected in my country.”

Macron said that the United States is still an indispensable player for achieving peace in the Middle East, adding that France will rely on the U.S. in Syria once the conflict comes to an end.

“We will have to build a new Syria afterwards,” he said.



CORRECTION: A previous version of this story and headline misquoted Macron on the U.S. role in Syria. He called for “multilateralism.”