Trump flicks dandruff off visiting French leader Macron

US leader says grooming ‘perfect’ French counterpart during state visit is a sign of their ‘very special relationship’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday made a show of flicking dandruff from the suit collar of visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, saying it was a sign of the two leaders’ “very special relationship.”

Trump made the surprise gesture as Macron, the first foreign leader to be honored with a state visit in Washington since Trump took office 15 months ago, stood at his side for a photo opportunity in the White House’s Oval Office.

“We have a very special relationship, in fact I’ll get that little piece of dandruff off… We have to make him perfect, he is perfect,” Trump said to a laughing Macron.

Macron’s three-day visit to Washington underscores the importance that both sides attach to the relationship: Macron, who calls Trump often, has emerged as something of a “Trump whisperer” at a time when the American president’s relationships with other European leaders are more strained. Trump, who attaches great importance to the optics of pageantry and ceremony, chose to honor Macron with the first state visit of his administration as he woos the French president.

One of Macron’s main objectives during his three-day visit to Washington is to persuade Trump to stay in Iran nuclear deal. Trump remains publicly undecided but reminded his French counterpart of what he sees as flaws in the agreement, which he said fails to address ballistic missiles or Iran’s activities in Yemen or Syria.

Macron told reporters that he and Trump would look at the Iran deal “in a wider regional context,” taking into account the situation in Syria. “We have a common objective, we want to make sure there’s no escalation and no nuclear proliferation in the region. We now need to find the right path forward,” Macron said.

Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide on the fate of the accord and is demanding changes that European capitals believe would represent a legal breach.

For months, American and European officials have been working behind the scenes to trying to find a compromise over Trump’s demands to change the agreement.