Can the nation wait until Jan. 20?

Joe Biden has 40 more days to serve as president of the United States. But anyone watching events in Paris over the weekend would think President-elect Donald Trump has already taken office. The president-elect traveled to France ostensibly to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral, but the visit turned into high-level diplomacy between European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, among others — and the next U.S. president. With the war in Ukraine at a critical stage, not to mention the Middle East continuing its meltdown, the event took on enormous significance, with Trump acting as de facto leader of the free world.