President Donald Trump repeatedly gushed about the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a devastating 2019 fire as French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Trump for attending the cathedral’s reopening, calling it a testament to the long history of friendship between their countries. “That was a sad day watching that burn, and five years later you had it up and they say it’s even more beautiful than it was before,” Trump said. “It was a great achievement.” The cathedral’s reconstruction required nearly $1 billion in global donations, including from U.S. organizations and citizens. Macron spoke in French, saying, "And thank you, Mr. President, for extending this friendship to France and taking part in the ceremony at Notre Dame that you mentioned before. It was a great honor for the French people to reopen the cathedral to the rest of world and your presence was a testament to that friendship. As the president said, this friendship dates back to the revolutionary war since the beginning of the United States and whenever we've needed, we’ve been able to come together and be on the right side. We've been able to be united to defend peace and sovereignty, namely in the two World Wars that marked the 20th century.”