L

ess than one year after his landslide victory in the French election, 40-year-old President Emmanuel Macron has proven to the world that he has taken over the de facto leadership of the European Union from the weakened German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among his key successes has been his ability to win the heart and trust of United States President Donald Trump.

Macron is a breath of fresh air given the emergence of rightist leaders in Europe and Britain’s decison to leave the EU. Smaller EU members, including from Eastern Europe, have also expressed discontent with EU policies.

Trump is unpopular in Europe because of his protectionistic economic polices and his threat to play a reduced role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while EU and NATO relations with Russia are also facing challenges.

Incredibly, the founder of the La République En Marche! party met Trump six times within a year. In their first encounter last May, Macron forcefully shook Trump’s hand and refused to release it for few seconds. To onlookers, the American leader’s ego was shaken.

Two months later, he invited Trump for a state visit on Bastille Day, showing off French military power during the parade. Their communication has been so frequent that Macron is now described as Trump’s “whisperer”.

At their bilateral summit at the White House on Tuesday, their talks reportedly covered global trade issues, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran, the Syrian crisis and the Korean Peninsula. Macron also tried to persuade Trump to change his mind on the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, which Trump pulled the US out of.

When asked about the Iran nuclear deal, Trump’s response — “We can change […]. In life, you have to be flexible” — was Macron’s major diplomatic coup.

The transactional and impulsive American leader now has a close partner in Europe. Macron is very eager to revive France’s global power and influence. He still could not persuade Trump to stay with the nuclear deal despite offering the possibility to renegotiate with Iran as a sweetener to the American leader. But at least Trump has indicated his willingness to reconsider his position.

ASEAN’s situation is very different from the EU. But President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo can learn from Macron in ensuring Indonesia’s de facto leadership in ASEAN.