FILE - President Joe Biden, right, and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive at the international ceremony at Omaha Beach, June 6, 2024, in Normandy, France. Biden is being feted with a state visit this weekend by Macron in Paris.is being feted by French President Emmanuel Macron with a state visit Saturday, as the two allies aim to show off their partnership on global security issues and move past trade tensions.
Biden’s trip to France also comes ahead of Sunday’s European Parliament election, in which the far right is likely to emerge as “It’s probably a good thing for us to remember that we didn’t win our independence either without some foreign help or foreign assistance, specifically from France,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
For example, he said, France proposed putting Western trainers on the ground in Ukraine, leading to questions of whether this is “really giving Ukraine a major, tangible benefit” or has the “potential to be escalatory and dangerous.”Kirby said the two leaders would have an announcement Saturday on deepening maritime law enforcement cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. They also are to discuss economic and climate challenges.