Of particular interest at the Trump-Erdogan meeting were the references of the two presidents to France, focusing on the French president’s statements on NATO. Macron had described – in Economist magazine – the Atlantic Alliance as “clinically dead” and in a state of being “brain dead.” He had also flogged Turkey, accusing it of launching an attack on another country, Syria, in an area where French interests are at stake. Macron has reasonably wondered whether, under Article 5, NATO should hurry to assist Turkey if the Assad regime decides to defend militarily against the Turkish troops that have invaded Syria.