Trump and French president to dine at Mount Vernon on Monday

President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron will  visit the Mount Vernon estate on Monday. (National Park Service image)

Residents in the Mount Vernon area can expect increased traffic on the roads and in the air ahead of Monday’s presidential visit to the Mount Vernon estate, according a message sent Thursday by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck.

President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron and their wives will be dining at George Washington’s historic home on Monday, according to various media reports. Macron is in town for a three-day state visit. 

The Mount Vernon estate will close to visitors at 1 p.m. on Monday, Storck’s office said. No road closures are expected at this time, but waterway restrictions are expected along the Potomac River in the vicinity of the estate, Storck said. A U.S. Park Police spokesman said their may be some rolling road closures, but didn’t anticipate anything that would cause delays.

Previous visits to the estate by former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush were made via helicopter.

A spokeswoman for Mount Vernon declined to give details of the visit, citing security concerns.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said earlier this month that Mount Vernon is a “beautiful reminder of France’s unique status as America’s very first ally going all the way back to the revolution,” according to the AP. Macron’s visit marks the first time a foreign leader has visited Mount Vernon since former French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with George W. Bush there in 2007.

This will be Trump’s first visit to Mount Vernon during his presidency, although First Lady Melania Trump visited the Washington Library at Mount Vernon last year.

Aside from Sarkozy, a number of other foreign leaders have visited Mount Vernon during trips to the United States. President Kennedy hosted Pakistan’s Ayub Khan there in July 1961 for a state dinner. King Hussein of Jordan visited twice, first in 1959 and later with George H.W. Bush in 1989.

A full list of Mount Vernon’s famous visitors can be seen here.