'A moving experience': Biden honored with state visit in France amid tensions over wars

PARIS – It was a grand fête thrown by America’s oldest friend.

French President Emmanuel Macron honored President Joe Biden on Saturday with all the pomp and pageantry of an official state visit as the two leaders sought to show solidarity and fraternité amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza and tensions over trade issues that have at times tested the two-centuries-old Franco-American alliance.

The celebration started with an elaborate welcome ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe and continued with a state banquet in Biden’s honor Saturday night.

“France was our first friend and remains one of our best friends,” Biden said at a joint appearance with Macron at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French leader.

Biden arrived in France earlier this week to participate in events marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when U.S. and allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to free France from the grip of Nazi Germany. But hanging over the celebrations of the allied victory during World War II was the uncertainty of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zeleneskyy in Paris on Friday and announced another $225 million to help the war-torn country reconstruct its electric grid. He and Macron discussed both wars and other issues of mutual interest during a meeting Saturday at the presidential palace.

Afterward, Biden warned that all of Europe would be in danger if Russian President Vladimir Putin wins his war against Ukraine.

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“Putin’s not going to stop at Ukraine,” Biden said, with Macron at his side. “It’s not just Ukraine. It’s more than Ukraine. All of Europe will be threatened.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” he added. “We will not walk away.”

Macron stressed that France and the United States “see eye to eye” on the war in Ukraine. He thanked Biden for taking what he called “a critical role” on Ukraine and reiterated France’s support for a cease-fire and hostage deal the Biden administration is pushing to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

France has yet to agree to a Biden plan for a $50 billion loan assistance package for Ukraine that would use interest from frozen Russian assets held in Western financial institutions. But Macron expressed hope that the package would win the approval of the Group of Seven allies who are meeting next week in Italy.

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Apart from the talk of war, however, was all the spectacle of a state visit, French style.

At the welcome ceremony earlier Saturday, Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined Macron and his wife Brigitte at the Arc de Triomphe, a monument to French soldiers who fought and died in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Biden and Macron watched as soldiers laid a floral wreath beside the eternal flame that burns beside the monument's Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Four military jets flew overhead in formation. The two leaders and their spouses signed a guest book, shook hands with some uniformed officers and then proceeded down the Champs-Élysées to the presidential palace.

“It was a moving experience for a student of French history,” Biden said later.

At the state dinner in Biden's honor, Macron toasted the enduring friendship between the two countries. “We are allies and will remain allies,” he said, as glasses were clinked and raised.

Biden said his time in France “has been the most remarkable trip I’ve ever made.”

“France and the United States have always been there for one another,” he said, adding that the two countries stand together “to defend the very values that are the soul of our two nations.”

He then asked everyone to raise a glass and concluded: “May we continue to seek democracy … and may we always stay together.”

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Biden and Macron have a had a friendly, but at times testy relationship.

Just a few months after Biden took office, France complained that it had been stiffed after the U.S. announced a submarine deal with the United Kingdom and Australia, causing the Aussies to cancel a contract to buy submarines for the French.

A contrite Biden acknowledged the U.S. had been “clumsy” in how it handled the announcement. He later hosted the Macrons at a state dinner at the White House, the first of his presidency.

France and other European countries also have griped about the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022. European officials argue the law is designed to protect American interests and punishes their manufacturers because it offers tax breaks and subsidies to U.S. companies that produce clean-energy products, in particular electric vehicles and solar panels.

Still, the White House insists transatlantic relations between the two countries are strong.

“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,” said John Kirby, the White House spokesman on national security issues. “That's what he wants to see in a friend and an ally – you know, an ability to shoot straight, say what's on your mind.”

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS.

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