French President Emmanuel Macron Visits Washington

Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron is making his second state visit to the United States since his election to two terms.

On this visit, the Elysee is keen to show the "privilege" that Macron enjoys from Washington to hold such a reception for a foreign president, and the distinction of French-American relations.

There is no doubt that the relations between the two countries have recently gone through discrepancies that were publicly expressed by the French side. Beginning with the submarine contract crisis with Australia, where Canberra canceled it after the formation of the "Oaks" strategic security alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, which caused a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Paris. Later, the war in Ukraine came to show the divergence of the two visions in dealing with this crisis on many levels, most notably energy, and here the American side clearly received Macron's criticism when he said that "America sells gas to Europe four times its price... This is not the way friends behave."

Macron will be able to discuss these issues amicably with President Joe Biden, as they will meet around a dinner table in Washington, and sources in the French presidency believe that this will be a comfortable position to delve into all the differences between the two countries "in an informal, frank and very friendly framework."