President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden received a French welcome at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris Saturday as part of the commander-in-chief’s five day state visit.
Biden, 81, and the First Lady were greeted with a formal ceremony and military parade before posing with French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron ahead of meetings at the Élysées Palace, Politico’s Eli Stokols reported.
Biden and Macron, 46, are set to deliver joint remarks to the press at 9:45 a.m. EST before going to the formal state dinner.
The state visit kicked off with commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and will now shift to discussions on present-day crises such as the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
“One of the things the president respects and admires so much about President Macron is that he’s as honest and as forthright as Joe Biden is,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told the Washington Post.
“That’s what he wants to see in a friend and an ally — an ability to shoot straight, say what’s on your mind.”
Macron’s off-script comments, however, have occasionally caused him to butt heads with Biden.
On a recent phone call, for example, the French president suggested sending Western troops to train soldiers in Ukraine, Politico reported.
Biden shot down the idea, citing concerns that sending troops from any NATO country could escalate the conflict with Russia, two sources familiar with the conversation told the outlet.
Both Biden and Macron met separately with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday – after which Biden apologized for the delay in the US’ $225 million military support package and pledged that more money was on the way.
Macron, however, said that a coalition of countries had agreed to send military trainers to Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.
In the past, Macron has also openly declared that Europe needs to reduce its reliance on Washington and exert more control over its own issues, the report added.
“However strong our alliance with America is, we are not a priority for them” Macron said in April during a speech at Sorbonne University. “They have two priorities: themselves — fair enough — and China.”
Biden and Macron will meet again at the G-7 meeting in Italy next week, as well as at the NATO summit in Washington next month, the Washington Post said.
