Biden Macron news – live: President condemned over ‘fancy’ French state dinner

When French President Emmanuel Macron alights from his armoured limousine onto the South Lawn of the White House Thursday morning, he’ll be greeted with a familiar scene.

One of the US armed services’ top-notch military bands will play “La Marseillaise” as the military escort stationed there to greet him stands at attention. The US Army Old Guard’s Presidential Salute Battery will fire 21 blanks from their 72mm howitzers, and “The Star-Spangled Banner” will be played while the escort troops return to attention...

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Emmanuel Macron’s second state visit to the US in four years and seven months is a sign that his tenure leading the Fifth Republic has raised France’s stock in America’s eyes, Andrew Feinberg writes

Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron are celebrating the longstanding US-French relationship – but these are friends with differences. The French president is using his visit to Washington to sharply criticise aspects of the US president’s signature climate law as a bad deal for Europe.

French president made clear that he and other European leaders remain deeply concerned about the incentives in a sweeping new climate-related law that favour American-made climate technology, including electric vehicles.

Mr Macron yesterday criticised the legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, during a luncheon with US lawmakers and again during a speech at the French embassy. The French president said that while the Biden administration’s efforts to curb climate change should be applauded, the subsidies will be an enormous setback for European companies.

“The choices that have been made ... are choices that will fragment the West,” Mr Macron said at the French embassy.

He added that the legislation “creates such differences between the United States of America and Europe that all those who work in many companies (in the US), they will just think, ‘We don’t make investments anymore on the other side of the Atlantic.’”

American Osetra caviar, butter-poached lobster from Maine, beef, and California wines will be presented before Emmanuel Macron for a state dinner hosted by president Joe Biden for his French counterpart.

The Biden family and the Macrons will be part of a red, white and blue-themed gathering at a pavilion set up on the South Lawn of the White House for the first state visit hosted by the American president since he was elected to the office in 2021.

The menu, released in advance of the dinner to be served to 300-400 guests on Thursday, showed the gathering will dine on shallot marmalade, a selection of cheese from three different states, potatoes and beef, and wash it down with wines from California.

My colleague Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Whole Foods announces ban on sale of Maine lobsters citing danger to North Atlantic right whales

Everything from the menu to the entertainment to the table settings and other touches for the glitzy dinner were designed by the White House — and first lady Jill Biden — to highlight the ties that bind America and its oldest ally, France.

A state dinner is a high diplomatic honor that the United States reserves for its closest allies.

“The design of this dinner was inspired by the shared colors of our flags, red white and blue, and our common values, liberty and democracy, equality and fellowship,” Ms Biden said. “These form the bedrock upon which our enduring friendship was built.”

The first lady said she was handling the dinner the way that her mother handled family dinners when she was growing up. Her mother brought out the china, fresh flowers and lit candles “even if we were only having fish sticks from the freezer.”

“I learned that setting a table can be an act of love,” she said, before journalists were permitted to see the tablescapes for the dinner, which is part of a broader state visit to the United States by Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

“Our hope is that the end result will be a night that balances the beauty of our friendship with a seriousness of purpose,” she said, ”and we hope that French citizens everywhere feel the warmth of our welcome.”

White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo, who has worked for the Bidens for more than a decade, said “making people feel comfortable and at home” matters most to the couple.

Maine lobster poached in butter, beef with shallot marmalade and an American cheese trio will be served when French president Emmanuel Macron takes his seat as the guest of honor at a red-white-and-blue themed White House state dinner, the first for president Joe Biden.

Dessert will be orange chiffon cake, roasted pears and creme fraiche ice cream.

Everything from the menu to the entertainment to the table settings and other touches were designed by the White House — and first lady Jill Biden — to highlight the ties that bind America and its oldest ally, France.

The dinner will be held in a heated pavilion on the South Lawn with a guest list that is expected to top 300. Guests will dine at a mix of square and rectangular tables, covered with dark blue silk cloths and decorated with candles and arrangements of red, white and blue flowers, including roses and irises.

The White House says Thursday's state dinner for the president of France is meant to highlight the ties that bind the United States and its oldest ally

The White House yesterday defended the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), amid considerable pushback from French president Emmanuel Macron during his visit.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the legislation “presents significant opportunities for European firms as well as benefits to EU energy security,” when asked about European concerns.

The IRA has provisions that will contribute to the growth of the clean energy sector globally, she added.

French president Emmanuel Macron addressed US lawmakers from both political parties on Wednesday and pushed back over new American subsidies that are riling European leaders, according to a participant in a closed-door meeting.

Mr Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States since taking office in 2017, ahead of which French officials said he would confront president Joe Biden over the subsidies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In a meeting with US lawmakers at the Library of Congress, Mr Macron said the Inflation Reduction Act was “super aggressive” toward European companies, one participant told Reuters. The participant requested anonymity to discuss a private part of the meeting.

Mr Macron’s office declined to confirm the comment, which was first reported by Agence France-Presse.

European leaders have complained about the legislative package, signed by Mr Biden in August, that offers massive subsidies for US-made products, which they say unfairly disadvantages non-American companies and deals a serious blow to their economies as Europe deals with the fallout from Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

French president Emmanuel Macron was treated to lunch at the Library of Congress, where he addressed US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on climate change and biodiversity.

In his introductory remarks, Mr Macron said France and the United States should join forces to reform the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank so their funds can be directed to countries hit by climate change.

After Republicans won the House of Representatives in this month’s mid-term elections, Mr Macron’s efforts to reach out to both parties was a recognition he must look beyond Joe Biden, a Democrat, to advance cooperation with Washington, French officials say.

Mr Macron’s visit came as Nato ministers met in Bucharest and pledged more aid to Ukraine to help against Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure as winter bites.

The alliance, of which the United States and France are founding members, was also discussing how to address challenges posed by China’s military buildup and its cooperation with Russia, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said. Mr Macron has said in the past that China should not be a focus for Nato.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a briefing call that China would top the agenda during Mr Macron’s visit “because of the global influence that China is trying to exude and demonstrate and because of the security challenges that China continues to pose, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.”

French president Emmanuel Macron visited Nasa headquarters yesterday and said US-French cooperation was important to counter the presence of “rogue states” in space as he began a visit to the United States to discuss issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to China with American leaders.

Mr Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the US since taking office in 2017.

His first public engagement was at the headquarters of the US space agency alongside vice president Kamala Harris, who said the two would discuss collaboration in space to tackle climate change and on security.

Mr Macron said space represents “a new place of conflict” and that it was important for France and the United States to work together on setting rules and norms because they share a commitment to science as well as democratic values.

“We have crazy players in space as well, and we have rogue states there and we have new hybrid attacks,” he said, speaking in English.

Ms Harris and Mr Macron announced new US-French cooperation on space during a meeting in Paris a year ago.

French president Emmanuel Macron earlier yesterday visited Nasa headquarters with vice president Kamala Harris and said US-French cooperation was important to counter the risk of conflict in space. The two announced new US-French cooperation on space during a meeting in Paris a year ago.

Mr Macron said space represents “a new place of conflict” and that it was important for France and the United States to work together on setting rules and norms because they share a commitment to science as well as democratic values.

“We have crazy players in space as well, and we have rogue states there and we have new hybrid attacks,” Mr Macron said, speaking in English.

France joined the United States and several other nations in ruling out destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing after Russia struck one of its own satellites in orbit last year, creating debris and drawing scorn from the United States and its allies.