Somewhere on a golf course, the president of France was in the middle of a phone call with the president of the United States.
Then a new voice came on the line.
"I'm from the Paris of the Midwest," it said. "Detroit."
Emmanuel Macron was now talking to Kid Rock. Donald Trump was already gone, driving off in a golf cart.
Kid Rock told the whole story Friday night on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," and it might be the most Trump thing you'll hear all year.
Here's how it went down. Kid Rock was golfing with the President, and Trump's phone wouldn't quit ringing. World leaders, staff, one call after another. "He does not stop working," Kid Rock said.
Then Macron called.
Trump talked with him for a bit while they stood by the golf cart. Then, apparently, he decided the leader of France should meet one of his favorite people. "The great Kid Rock," Trump called him, and handed over the phone.
Then he got in the cart and left.
So there's Kid Rock, standing on a golf course, holding the President's phone, with the president of a nuclear-armed country on the other end. He did what any guy from Michigan would do. He introduced himself, gave Detroit a classy new nickname, and kept things friendly.
"I was like, 'So what else you been up to?'"
Maher lost it. "He leaves Macron on the phone with Kid Rock," he said, barely getting the words out. The audience roared. Ted Cruz, sitting on the panel, was cracking up. So was Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei.
Maher had his own reasons to laugh. He'd been to the White House for dinner twice, once with Kid Rock and Stephen A. Smith at the table, and Trump had just ripped him in a long Truth Social post. Maher said having dinner with Trump is like dating Taylor Swift: it's fun at first, and then they tear you apart.
Not everybody thought it was funny. Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff complained that if Barack Obama had done the same thing, Maher "would have gone on a 10-minute rant."
He's right that Obama never would have done it. Obama spent eight years treating European leaders like professors he needed to impress. Every call was a seminar. Every handshake was a chance to apologize for something.
Trump doesn't do that. Macron has spent years lecturing America about trade, defense, Ukraine and Iran. Trump takes his calls, hears him out, does what's best for the United States, and if Kid Rock happens to be standing nearby, well, Macron can say hello to Kid Rock.
It isn't rude. It's a president who doesn't think he needs Paris's approval. America First doesn't mean ignoring allies. It means not acting like a nervous exchange student every time one of them calls.
And somehow, it works. Macron keeps calling. Europe keeps showing up. The world keeps dealing with Trump on Trump's terms, golf cart included.
Macron's office hasn't commented on his chat with Kid Rock. Detroit has not officially responded to being named the Paris of the Midwest.
But somewhere in the Élysée Palace, there's a French official still trying to figure out who "Kid Rock" is and why he wanted to know what the President of France has been up to.
