Macron and Biden celebrate the “loyalty” between their countries under the shadow of Le Pen and Trump | International

It was a grand celebration of Franco-American friendship, but there were invisible presences that strained the atmosphere. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, received his American counterpart, Joe Biden, with full honors this Saturday in Paris, with a state dinner and promises of eternal loyalty. In the Elysée palace, however, the shadow of the two candidates to succeed them loomed. One is …

It was a grand celebration of Franco-American friendship, but there were invisible presences that strained the atmosphere. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, received this Saturday with full honors in Paris his American counterpart, Joe Biden, with a state dinner and promises of eternal loyalty. In the Elysée palace, however, the shadow of the two candidates to succeed them loomed. One is Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right in France, whose party is expected to achieve a resounding victory in the European elections this Sunday. The other, Donald Trump, candidate against Biden in the November presidential elections.

In a statement to the press without questions, before the dinner, Macron thanked Biden for “the clarity and loyalty of a partner who loves and respects Europeans.” The message was clear: if Trump, who has threatened to leave Europe unprotected against Russia, wins the elections, there will no longer be someone in the White House “who loves and respects Europeans.” Macron and Biden put their countries’ friendship in writing in a Franco-American roadmap which “calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and reiterates that all hostages must be released immediately, without preconditions.” They also “discussed options to do more in support of Ukraine,” according to the document. Biden warned that if Putin wins in Ukraine, he “will not stop” and “all of Europe will be threatened.” “We will not allow it,” he said.

The possible success of Le Pen, who wants to succeed Macron in the Elysée in 2027 and in the past has exhibited his proximity to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and the possibility of Trump returning to the White House, would put a good part of the speech of the current French and American presidents. At celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, both pointed to the sacrifice of soldiers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other allies (“a bond of blood shed for freedom,” said the Frenchman) as an example. for the battles of the present. Macron put on the table sending military instructors to Ukraine, which Le Pen opposes. Biden, with Trump in mind, stated on the Normandy beaches that “isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and it is not the answer today.”

There is a paradox in the bilateral relationship, unbreakable since the founding of the United States, but always marked by misgivings. Old misgivings, due to the French tradition, associated with General De Gaulle, of asserting the sovereignty of France before the great powers, a tradition that Macron has updated with his defense of the “strategic sovereignty” of the EU. Now the harmony is not complete with respect to the involvement in Ukraine, the degree of criticism of the Israeli Government for the bombings in Gaza or the possibility that US industrial policy will leave Europe unhooked from global competition. But these differences are nuances compared to what may happen with Trump back in power.

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