Biden speaks with Macron, Harris to travel to Paris next month

President Joe Biden spoke by phone Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, as the U.S. tries to improve sinking relations  with America’s first ally over a submarine deal with the U.K. and Australia. 

Biden confirmed he would be meeting with Macron during next week’s G20 summit in Rome and talked to the French leader about Vice President Kamala Harris’ forthcoming trip to Paris, which was announced Friday, along with the White House’s readout of the call.   

Harris will go to the French capital with her husband Douglas Emhoff and meet with Macron, as well as mark Veterans Day in the U.S. and Armistice Day in France by paying a visit to the Suresnes American Cemetery, located on the outskirts of Paris.  

President Joe Biden (left) is expected to speak by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron (right) on Friday, as Biden tries to patch up the U.S.-French relationship, after the French were blindsided by a security pact announcement between the U.S., U.K. and Australia

‘They will discuss the importance of the transatlantic relationship to global peace and security and underscore the importance of our partnership on global challenges from COVID-19 and the climate crisis to issues affecting the Sahel and the Indo-Pacific,’ the vice president’s office said about Harris’ meeting with Macron. 

She will deliver a speech before the Paris Peace Forum on November 11 and also participate in the Paris Conference on Libya the next day.   

The White House has been trying to make amends with the French ever since the U.S.’s first ally was blindsided by the Australians pulling out of a $60 billion submarine contract with the French, to join the American and British in a military pact dubbed AUKUS instead.

The Friday call marked the second time since Biden and Macron spoke by phone since the deal pushed the U.S.-French relationship off the rails. 

The French were so mad that they recalled their ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia.  

After the first phone call between Biden and Macron, Amb. Philippe Étienne returned to Washington, D.C. 

Macron previewed his G20 meeting with Biden earlier this month.   

President Joe Biden (left) greets French President Emmanuel Macron (right) at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June 

The two leaders seemed to be engaged in a budding bromance when they met for the first time with Biden as president earlier this year 

Macron told reporters at a summit of European Union leaders in Slovenia that he hoped the U.S and France could once again work together ‘in good faith.’ 

‘We need to look with lucidity at the decisions taken by our allies. There were choices that were made and I can’t say that France and Europe were taken into account, but we have a history that is bigger [than this],’ Macron said.  

‘We will catch up during the G20. I think it is the right occasion to see how we can re-engage,’ he continued. 

‘It’s about facts and what to do together,’ Macron added. 

In the White House’s readout of the Biden-Macron call on Friday, the administration previewed the G20 meeting by saying ‘President Biden looks forward to the meeting with President Macron in Rome later this month, where they will continue the conversation, take stock of the many areas of U.S.-France cooperation, and reinforce our shared interests and common values as we take on challenges and opportunities together.’  

At the G7 in June held in Cornwall, England, Biden and Macron seemed to be engaged in a budding bromance, with the leaders smiling and back-slapping during the seaside summit.