1914." this last book will be the focus of our conversation with professor mcmeekin. world war i was triggered in late june of 1914 by the assassination of archduke frantz ferdinand and his wife, sophie. they were gunned down by a serbian 19-year-old by the name of -- >> sean mcmeekin talks about his book "july 1914" on this episode of book notes+. notes plus is aille on the free mobile app and wherever you get your podcasts. announcer: c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more. including midco. >> where you going? or maybe a better question is, how far do you want to go?

and, how fast do you want to get there? now we are getting somewhere. so, let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. announcer: midco supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> we now want to take you down to the other end of pennsylvania avenue. we want to take you to 1600 pennsylvania avenue at the white house, the washington post white house reporter joining us this morning. it is already a busy day at the white house. french president emmanuel macron arriving earlier today. what is on the agenda for the french president and president trump? >> we are expecting ukraine will

be a heavy focus of these meetings between the french president and president trump. certainly, the discussion about how president trump may negotiate an end to the war in ukraine has dominated the political conversation at the white house in recent weeks. we have seen in just the first month of his second term trump really remake the global order and how the united states acts in the world. it has created a lot of fear and anxiety among european leaders. we expect that will be a top topic of discussion between trump and the french president today. host: are we going to get one of those bilateral press conferences? if so, what are you expecting with the dynamic? >> it will be fascinating to watch. i recently traveled in december two macron and trump's first postelection meeting where they showed a friendly display but also president zelenskyy from ukraine was there and there was

a sense that macron was acting as a unifying force between the united states and ukraine. since then, we have seen president trump falsely accuse ukraine of starting the war with russia. we have seen him call president zelenskyy a dictator. certainly, that will have an impact on his relationship with macron and how the two may interact today. there is often talk of this almost romance between macron and trump given trump's recent statements and posture towards ukraine, i think we are all watching to see whether that has devolved today. host: that press conference expected early afternoon. it is a busy day on c-span networks. the house in at noon, the senate at 3:00. we are expecting that press conference around 2:00. not the only european visitor to

the white house this week. keir starmer also expected to be at the white house. when, and what is the topic of conversation when he joins? >> i think the relationship with keir starmer is fascinating at this moment. the united kingdom post-brexit has a different relationship with the rest of the european union. keir starmer have been able to position himself as someone trump views as a friend and ally. he told reporters on air force one during his first trip as president he had talked to him and despite the fact they had different political views that he saw him as an ally. during the munich security conference, we heard the u.k. talk to jd vance, the foreign secretary talk about the need for the country to spend more on defense. certainly, that is what trump wants to hear from these european leaders at this time that he is talking about pulling

out of ukraine. certainly, we are watching for how that relationship evolves and how the united kingdom could play a role in paying more for defense at this time where trump seems very interested in decreasing the amount of american support there. host: emmanuel macron today, keir starmer later this week. had there been any response from the white house about the results of the election in germany and what that relationship is expected to be like going forward? >> saw president trump strike a conciliatory tone in his comments congratulating germany on the results of the election. we had seen in recent weeks elon musk endorsing the afid right wing party in germany.