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WASHINGTON – Over a year after a transatlantic setback Relations between the US and France threaten to deteriorate, but President Emmanuel Macron and his wife will be at the White House on Thursday as honored guests for the first state dinner since President Biden took office.
In the days leading up to the evening dinner, the office of the first lady, which handles most of the planning, went to great lengths to show that relations were strong as the White House marks a return from diplomatic pomp and circumstance that has largely held up during the pandemic.
“This dinner is inspired by the shared colors of our flags,” said the first lady, Jill Biden, as she unveiled the menu and floral decorations for the dinner. “And our common values: freedom and democracy, equality and camaraderie. These form the foundation on which our enduring friendship is built.”
The tributes ranged from the design of the menu to the French-made wine glasses. The leaders will toast with American-made wine, and an image of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, will be the background of the toast.
The White House will place red roses and blue delphiniums next to white irises, France’s official flower, on every table during dinner to symbolize the nations’ shared colors.
The Macrons will also be treated to an American cheese course, including Oregon’s Rogue River Blue, the winner of the 2019-2020 World Cheese Awards. More than 300 guests will attend the dinner, an administrative official said.
Jon Batiste, the Grammy-winning musician and composer, will perform with the US Marine Band. Dr. Biden noted on Wednesday that Mr Batiste grew up in New Orleans, “which has been shaped by both French and American culture.”
“Our hope is that the end result will be an evening that balances the beauty of our friendship with the seriousness of our purpose,” said Dr. Biden. “And we hope that French citizens everywhere will feel the warmth of our welcome.”
Both countries have made efforts to reassure the world about the strength of their alliance in the 14 months since Mr Biden reached an agreement to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines, ending a previous French contract to provide conventional submarines was damned and Mr Macron was induced to recall his ambassador.
Mr Biden later said the government was “clumsy” in the way it handled the deal and has since met Mr Macron several times. On the eve of the official state dinner, the two presidents and their wives dined together at Fiola Mare, a waterfront Italian restaurant in Washington.
But challenges lay ahead.
The state dinner provides an opportunity for diplomatic relations with an ally crucial to the government’s foreign policy strategy amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global inflation and a potential energy crisis in Europe.
Mr Biden and Mr Macron are likely to discuss the importance of a united front against Russia, as well as concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, according to a senior Biden administration official.
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France has also warned the United States that Mr Biden’s recently passed climate and energy bill, which includes tax cuts to entice consumers to buy American-made electric vehicles, would threaten a European economy struggling with inflation. During a visit to the Library of Congress on Wednesday, Mr Macron told lawmakers that the Inflation Reduction Act was “super aggressive” against European companies, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private event.
Mr Macron, who also attended a state dinner during the Trump administration, is also likely to emphasize the need to strengthen Europe’s defense systems so that it does not have to depend on the United States in times of conflict.
On Wednesday, Mr. Macron joins Vice President Kamala Harris at NASA Headquarters to discuss space strategy between the two allies.
“We’re in a confluence of transatlantic relations in world history where you’ve seen a lot of things over the last four years from when Macron met Trump to when Macron met Biden,” said Célia Belin, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on United States policy towards Europe and French politics. “The Americans know that when they faced Russia, unity and solidarity made the West so powerful.”
She said the state dinner could also be one of the final stages of reconciliation since the alliance’s nadir following the announcement of the submarine deal.
Mr Macron and his wife, Brigitte, will be greeted with an official arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House before the two world leaders hold a bilateral meeting. Mr Biden and Mr Macron will then hold a joint briefing.
The leaders then return to the South Lawn for dinner under a tent set up to protect guests from the winter weather. While pumpkins were picked from the White House garden for the meal, the plates were rented out. (The official White House china is not allowed to leave the building to avoid damaging it.)
The menu, designed by Cristeta Comerford, the White House executive chef, and Susie Morrison, the executive pastry chef, includes butter-poached Maine lobster, followed by beef with shallot marmalade and triple-cooked butter potatoes.