This cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times relates to the announcement that President Trump will visit France in July.
BACKGROUND
Donald Trump will attend France’s Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on 14 July, after accepting an invitation from the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Macron’s office said on Wednesday that the US president would attend the traditional Paris military parade as part of the commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States into the first world war. US troops will join French soldiers in the annual display of military might on the Champs Elysées. Trump’s Paris visit will be his first trip to France since he became US president. (Source: The Guardian)
THE CARTOON
The cartoon harks back to the days of the French Revolution (1789-1799), when condemned prisoners were taken to the guillotine in a tumbril, a sort of open cart (you can see the guillotine in the background on the left). In this cartoon, the 'prisoners' in the tumbril are Donald and Melania Trump. The tumbril is being followed by French president Emmanuel Macron, who is smiling. He is carrying a Liberty Cap on a lance. Trump exclaims, "You call this a state coach?!!".
LANGUAGE
The expression "You call this a XXXX" is used when the speaker is not impressed by the thing he is talking about. • You call this a bedroom? It's more like a wardrobe!"
COMMENTARY
Although Macron has invited Trump to Paris, there's no love lost between the two presidents. Who can forget the famous handshake battles during the recent G7 summit or Macron's apparent snub of Trump at the same event? And Macron was disappointed with Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
HISTORICAL NOTE
In revolutionary France, the cap or bonnet rouge was first seen publicly in May 1790, at a festival in Troyes adorning a statue representing the nation, and at Lyon, on a lance carried by the goddess Libertas. To this day the national emblem of France, Marianne, is shown wearing a Phrygian cap. The caps were often knitted by women known as Tricoteuses who sat beside the guillotine during public executions in Paris in the French Revolution, supposedly continuing to knit in between executions. (Source: WIkipedia)
