The president seemed to be enjoying his brief diplomatic visit to the French capital – and his press conference with Macron ended with mutual backslapping

Donald Trump Jr and Emmanuel Macron were born 10 days apart in December 1977. In Paris on Thursday, President Donald Trump called his son a “young man” more than once, but managed to avoid any reverse ageism towards his French counterpart.

However, when it came to the burning question of Trump Jr’s would-be dealings with Russia, the US president acted like an American in Paris who is high on champagne, dazzled by the sights and eager to get to dinner at the Eiffel Tower.

He dismissed the scandal gripping Washington as a trivial distraction, the sort of thing anyone would have done, and instead spread the love around Trump Jr, Macron and Chinese president Xi Jinping. He was strangely jovial and light of heart. Even his attacks on the press were milder than usual.

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Asked about his eldest son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in June 2016, which even Trump Jr has admitted he could have handled better, the president did not give an inch.

“I think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting,” he said. “It’s called opposition research, or even research into your opponent. I’ve only been in politics for two years but I’ve had many people call up, ‘Oh gee, we have information on this factor or this person’, or frankly Hillary [Clinton].

“That’s their standard in politics. Politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard where they have information and you take the information … zero happened from the meeting, and honestly, I think the press made a big deal over something really a lot of people would do.”

The answer appeared flip and lacking gravitas in view of a political consensus that while opposition research can sometimes be bruising, dealing with an agent of a foreign government, particularly a hostile one, is beyond the pale – and probably illegal.

Then Trump said he had “heard” that the lawyer in question, Natalia Veselnitskaya, had her visa or passport approved by Barack Obama’s attorney general, Loretta Lynch. From hearsay to fact in a breath: “So she was here because of Lynch.”

The president also described his son at various points as “a wonderful young man” and “a great young man” and emphasised: “I think it was a meeting that most people in politics probably would have taken.”

Trump invited Macron to offer his response. The French president said: “I think it’s always important not to interfere in others’ domestic life.”

Trump leaned forward and said: “What a good answer that is!” He laughed merrily – not exactly a dark and brooding Richard Nixon, staring into the abyss. The moment suggested that he still has no appreciation of how much trouble he is in.

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Perhaps it had been easy to forget as Trump basked in the City of Light on Thursday, visiting Napoleon’s tomb and – ever the property tycoon – complimenting “some of the most incredible buildings anywhere in the world”. He also raised eyebrows by telling French first lady Brigitte Macron: “You’re in such good shape … beautiful.”

Later, he saw how the Eiffel Tower measures up to Trump Tower as he took the plunge into French cuisine from a menu including dover sole, spinach and Hollandaise; fillet of beef, brioche with foie, souffle potato, truffle sauce; warm strawberry with yoghurt sorbet; and hot chocolate souffle with chocolate ice cream (it was not clear whether Trump got his customary two scoops).

During the half-hour press conference at the Élysée presidential palace, the leaders, aged 71 and 39, said they had discussed “free and fair trade”, “fighting against propaganda” online and continuing to combat terrorism. They appeared to have agreed to disagree on the Paris climate accord, on which Trump offered a fudge of an answer.

Trump praised Macron for cutting red tape in government: “Less bureaucracy. It’s a good chant. We can use it too.” Macron returned a smile. Trump had found a surprise ally for his senior adviser Steve Bannon’s rolling programme to deconstruct the administrative state.

Trump did not quite fall into any traps such as “the trouble with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur” which, legend has it, George W Bush once said to Tony Blair. But he did pronounce the French Tricolore as “try-colour”.

You have a great leader now, you have a great president, you have a tough president Trump on Macron

He got himself out of one hole with unexpected skill. A French journalist challenged him about past remarks in which he claimed he had heard “Paris is no longer Paris” and said France and Germany were “infected” with terrorism because they let in too many refugees.

As he listened, Trump’s eyebrows went up and his mouth formed a smile-cum-grimace, just as they used to when Clinton hammered away during their debates. Macron had a sly smile and drew breath to answer. But Trump interrupted.

“You’d better let me answer that one first,” he said. “That’s a beauty.”

His answer: “You know what, it’s going to be just fine, because you have a great president. You have somebody that’s gonna run this country right, and I would be willing to bet – because I think this is one of the great cities, one of the most beautiful cities in the world – and you have a great leader now, you have a great president, you have a tough president.”

He had dodged and also praised his host. Then some levity again: “So I really have a feeling that you’re going to have a very peaceful and beautiful Paris, and I’m coming back.”

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He half-turned to Macron: “You’d better do a good job, please. Otherwise you’re going to make me look very bad.”

They both grinned. Macron said: “And you’re always welcome.”

Although Trump avoided his usual rants about fake news, he pulled a fast one for the last question by choosing a Chinese TV journalist instead of an American. That led to a riff on President Xi: “A terrific guy. I like working with him a lot. And he’s a very special person.”

Then the press conference ended with, literally, mutual backslapping between the US president and the French leader young enough to be his son. Trump began his presidency as a homebody, but he is becoming increasingly comfortable on the road – surrounded by the formal pleasantries of diplomacy and dinners – and decreasingly comfortable at home, where the TV is always on and the news is always bad.