Joe Biden in France: war in Ukraine, unity displayed… what to remember from the American President's state visit this Saturday

The American and French presidents, Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, displayed their unity of views on Saturday June 8 in Paris in the face of transatlantic challenges, starting with the war in Ukraine, and the specter of a possible return of Donald Trump.

From the descent of the Champs-Élysées escorted by 140 horses and 38 bikers from the Republican Guard to the banquet at the presidential palace, this state visit, without substantial announcement, aimed above all to showcase the friendship between the two countries.

Before the state dinner, the toasts given by the two leaders echoed each other, each recalling 1776 and 1944, the Marquis de Lafayette and the soldiers of DDay, the French support for the independence of the United States and the landing of American forces in Normandy.

"France and the United States are together, today and forever", assured Joe Biden. "Allies we are and allies we will remain", said Emmanuel Macron.

He welcomed the wedding air hovering over the reception, attended by singer Pharell Williams in jeans and a cowboy hat, actresses Salma Hayek and Bérénice Béjo and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

The French president indeed invited to the banquet a 100-year-old American veteran, Harold Terens, who had married his 96-year-old fiancée, Jeanne Swerlin, that very morning in Normandy, and wished them a happy marriage , to the applause of the standing room.

Earlier in the day, Emmanuel Macron had praised the "clarity and loyalty of a partner who loves and respects Europeans", a remark in the form of a dig at Donald Trump.

The former American president regularly threatens to no longer participate in the protection of Europeans against Russia within the Atlantic Alliance if he is re-elected in November.

During joint statements to the press, Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term, assured him, after the release of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, that he would continue to mobilize until &quot ;all" be.

"Synchronization"

The American president has, since the unprecedented attack by Hamas, been the strongest supporter of the offensive led by Israel in Gaza, where France distances itself from the manner of which the Israeli army conducts its operations.

On Ukraine too, nuances exist. Washington is careful not to follow all the impulses of the French president, for example on the possible sending of military instructors to Ukrainian soil.

A few days before a crucial G7 on this issue, the two presidents committed to a "road map" commune "to support the efforts" to "allow Ukraine to benefit from considerable profits from immobilized Russian sovereign assets".

Trade issues remain sources of tension, since Washington decided to massively subsidize the energy transition.

"Our desire is truly that we can move towards synchronization" in terms of regulation and level of investment, assured Emmanuel Macron, who had heavily insisted on the distortion of transatlantic competition during his state visit to Washington in December& nbsp;2022.

This first state visit by the American president to France took place at the end of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.

Before the Europeans

Joe and Jill Biden were welcomed at midday at the Arc de Triomphe then at the Elysée by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron.

Joe Biden, who arrived in Paris on Wednesday, participated in Normandy on Thursday, with Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky and around twenty heads of state and government, in the commemorations of the D -Day. He will leave on Sunday after visiting an American cemetery.

This day of diplomatic ceremonies could fuel criticism from opponents of the French head of state who accuse him, before Sunday's European elections, of having campaigned all week under the guise of dealing with foreign policy.

The relationship between the two men has greatly improved since in September 2021, the United States removed, under France's nose, a major submarine contract with Australia.

The diplomatic crisis that followed remains one of the sharpest episodes of tension between the United States and its "oldest ally& quot;, as they like to call France.