After fighting over submarines for more than a year, President Biden and President Macron of France celebrated their friendship with lobster and cheese.
At the White House, celebrities joined politicians, business leaders and big donors to honour America’s oldest ally at the first official state dinner of Mr Biden’s presidency. This was another step toward normalcy after the pandemic.
Mr Biden said, “Vive la France and God bless America,” as about 300 people clinked glasses. Mr Macron also raised his glass and said, “We come from the same values and principles.”
“Long live the United States of America, long live France and long live the friendship between our two countries,” the French president said.
The Bidens and the Macrons started the night by following members of the military down the Grand Staircase of the White House. They then posed for a picture and went to dinner under a tent on the South Lawn. The first lady, Jill Biden, wore a navy Oscar de la Renta dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves, while Brigitte Macron wore an ivory Louis Vuitton dress with a high neck.
🇺🇸🤝🇫🇷Biden and Macron have an awkward 40+second handshake pic.twitter.com/UdfRUjjbPm
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 1, 2022
The guests walked through a hallway in the White House that is usually used to sell books. Photographers and reporters shouted questions at them as they passed.
Jon Batiste, a musician and composer who has won a Grammy, said that his performance for Biden and Macron was “going to be fire.” Suleika Jaouad, who is married to Mr Batiste and has cancer, said, “This is the first time I’ve been out in a year.”
Academy Award-winning actress Ariana DeBose said she “couldn’t be more excited” to go to the White House with activist and owner of the comedy studio Funny or Die Henry R. Muoz III. The actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus agreed that it was “very exciting” to be back at the White House, but she didn’t answer when asked if it felt like her political satire show “Veep.”
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, sat at the head table with the Bidens, the Macrons, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other important people. This week, he let it slip that his conversation with Elon Musk had been “very good.” The editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour, told a reporter that she liked the way she was dressed.
There wasn’t much talk about politics at home. Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, laughed when Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader from New York, held up the fake red carpet to show reporters how well he spoke French.
Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, who is likely to be the speaker of the House when Republicans take control in January said that he and Mr Biden could come to an agreement on some things. But he didn’t answer when asked what it would be like to eat with Hunter Biden, who Republicans want to look into when they get the majority.
“Well, I’m at dinner with my mom, so we’re going to have a great time,” Mr McCarthy answered. The food was also there. The Macrons were served caviar, an American cheese course with the 2019-20 World Cheese Awards winner, Rogue River Blue from Oregon and butter-poached Maine lobster.
Some problems came up with the crustaceans. On Monday, Whole Foods said it was going to stop buying lobster from the state. It cited concerns from environmental groups that endangered North Atlantic right whales were getting caught in fishing gear.
As the executive chef of the White House, Cristeta Comerford made sure to praise the Maine lobster workers who made the food.
Biden and Macron walk to the Oval Office pic.twitter.com/ZuTqO0fGE1
— Reda (@RedaMor_) December 1, 2022
The dinner was mostly planned by the office of the first lady, which said that the red, white and blue theme was “inspired by the colours of our flags.”
During the dinner, the White House put red roses, blue delphiniums and white irises, which are the official flower of France, on each table to show that the countries have the same colours. The meal was made with squash from the White House garden, but the plates were rented. To keep it from getting broken, the official White House china can’t leave the building.
During most of their official meeting on Thursday, Mr Biden and Mr Macron kept a serious face as they talked about the war in Ukraine and economic disputes. However, both world leaders seemed to enjoy one of the more glamorous White House traditions.
Before he got there, Mr Biden gave Mr Macron a custom vinyl record collection of great American musicians and a copy of Thomas Edison’s 1877 patent for the American phonograph. Mr Macron gave Mr Biden and the Bidens’ first date movie, “Un Homme et une Femme” (A Man and a Woman), on vinyl and with the original soundtrack.
After talks with Macron, Biden said that the US and France will “do everything” to fight objectionable Iran and Russia, mentioning “human rights” as a distraction pic.twitter.com/hLj2shsboi
— S-War Journal (@SWarJournal9) December 1, 2022
Things haven’t always been so good between Mr Biden and Mr Macron. A little more than a year ago, a trans-Atlantic squabble nearly ruined relations between the U.S. and France.
This happened when President Biden made a deal to help Australia get nuclear-powered submarines, which ended a French deal to give Australia conventional submarines.
Later, Mr Biden said that the way the deal was handled by the government was “clumsy.” Since then, he has met with Mr Macron more than once.
Thursday Showed No Signs of Any of Those Tensions
In his speech, Mr. Biden said that the first ties between the two countries were made in his home state, which he loves. He said that he grew up in Delaware near Brandywine Battlefield, “where a young man named Marquis de Lafayette fought for the American cause and became close friends with a man named George Washington.”
Some people in the Biden administration seemed to be studying French history before going to the state dinner. Gene Sperling, one of Mr. Biden’s top advisors, told reporters that the president worked on his daughter’s U.S. history homework before the dinner and was “reminded of who paid for our revolution.”
“That counts for something,” he said. Follow us only on Lee Daily for more news like this.
