I dont know why France is on board. Hollande hates Trump. maybe they saw Le pen is the future..
The next elections in France are in April-May, and this tide is heading for them. In the last elections, they has to use a trick to keep Le Pen's party from gaining the majority in Parliament. The socialists dropped all their candidates in the runoff elections, and voted en masse for the less socialist, but still left wing party, thus giving them the majority. If Le Pen keeps coming on strong, she will win big next time.
The French state has existed for far longer than the current regime and even the French Republic.
It's usually more intelligent than the elected officials.
In any case, the Germans have gotten really full of themselves in thinking that Germany is the EU, which they have gotten away with mainly because Paris has consistently rolled over for Berlin. That may be about to change, as current EU policies are becoming increasingly poisonous for French politicians.
Holland’s approval rating is somewhere near 2%. A move is on to impeach him.
That's my theory. The French may have a certain reputation, but they aren't stupid. The establishment there sees Brexit followed by Trump, and has figured the same old strategy of swapping between the socialists and the semi-socialists might be at risk.
The SPD government led by Merkel, however, still has its collective head in the sand, or some other place where the sun doesn't shine.
If Trump shakes Hollandes hand, he’ll be grabbing a pussy.
The French presidential election is this coming April.