U.S. President Donald Trump officially welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron with an arrival ceremony Tuesday at the White House before the leaders hold official talks and attend a state dinner.
The ceremony is set to include nearly 500 service members from all five branches of the U.S. military, while Trump's first state dinner will feature entertainment by the Washington National Opera company.
Tuesday's bilateral meeting comes with several issues of global importance confronting the governments of both countries, including the war in Syria, Iran's nuclear program and Trump's plan to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imports.
Trump takes great pride in his friendship with Macron, which is one of the reasons he invited the French president to be his guest for the first state visit of a foreign leader in his administration.
Macron will likely use part of his White House talks to try and persuade Trump not to pull out of the six-nation nuclear deal with Iran. Trump has constantly called it a bad agreement. He faces a May 12 deadline to again waive economic sanctions against Iran as part of the agreement.
Iran would regard the reimposition of sanctions as killing the deal and threatens to restart its nuclear program.