Trump, whose own election last year shocked the pollsters, said Macron "ran an incredible campaign and had a tremendous victory. All over the world they're talking about it."
As he welcomed Macron to the US embassy in Brussels, he added: "We have a lot to discuss, including terrorism and other things. Congratulations. Great job."
Macron said "I'm also very happy to be with President Trump. We have an extremely large agenda to discuss: the fight against terrorism, the economy, climate and energy."
Trump has said the deadly attack in Manchester on Monday showed the threat had to be met and defeated but faces pressure from Britain after key details of the investigation were leaked in the US press.
As he met Macron Trump pointedly refused to answer journalists' questions about the growing intelligence scandal, which comes on top of concerns his administration may not have handled secret information provided by allies with the due care expected.