The White House knew France would be taken by surprise by Australia cancelling their $90billion submarine contract, according to a report Monday that throws doubt on President Joe Biden’s claims French President Emmanuel Macron knew in advance that the deal was doomed.
The Australian reported the existence of a 15-page document laid out in detail how the world would learn about the new AUKUS pact which caused a diplomatic rift and caused the French to pull their U.S. ambassadors.
The document, signed off by Biden’s advisers in the National Security Council, said Australia would tell France on September 16 – the day AUKUS was announced – that it would be pulling out of the submarine deal.
The National Security Council stated that they knew the agreement would shock their Paris counterparts, but didn’t anticipate the level of fury.
The document’s existence raises questions about whether Biden’s advisers properly briefed him or if he misunderstood the plan.
Biden tried to repair the damage when he told Macron on Friday during the G20 summit in Rome that he thought the French would be informed beforehand.
Biden apologized to Macron for any miscommunication. The French leader then accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of lying to him before scrapping the deal.
‘What we did was clumsy,’ he said. ‘It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through, I honest to God did not know you had not been,’ the president added.
The Australian reported Monday on a National Security Council 15-page document that suggests President Joe Biden (left) knew French President Emmanuel Macron (right) hadn’t been told by Australia that the submarine deal was off before the AUKUS announcement
President Joe Biden (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (right) met in Rome on Friday. There Biden told Macron: ‘I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through’
The paper reported that U.S. officials spent hours discussing with their counterparts in Canberra, Australia’s capital, how best to tend to France’s bruised feelings once AUKUS was official.
‘Everything was timed and understood completely,’ one Australian government source told The Australian. ‘We had a decision timeline that everyone had to hit on different marks. The announcement was made within the same news cycle because you can’t cancel the biggest procurement in our history and not have an answer to the question of what next? The sequencing was understood by everybody that that was the only way we could do it.’
In Rome, before the opening of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Biden went on a charm offensive to smooth over France’s ruffled feathers.
At the same time, First Lady Jill Biden sipped Chardonnay with French First Lady Brigitte Macron at a restaurant in Rome.
While Biden has made nice with Macron, Macron and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have accused each other of being untruthful.
Morrison said he told Macron during their June meeting that the submarine deal would likely go bust.
A text message, believed to have been leaked by Morrison’s office, appears to show Macron was given prior warning that the deal could be shaky. The French leader wrote: ‘Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?’
In Rome, when Macron was asked if Morrison was lying, the French president replied, ‘I don’t think, I know.’
Biden, Macron and Morrison are all attending the COP26 climate summit currently in Glasgow, Scotland.
President Joe Biden (left) went on a charm offensive in Rome with French President Emmanuel Macron (right). ‘What we did was clumsy,’ he said. ‘It was not done with a lot of grace,’ he told the French leader
At the same time, First Lady Jill Biden (right) held court with French First Lady Brigitte Macron (left) at a restaurant in Rome, where the two first ladies sipped Chardonnay
The documents obtained by The Australian indicate that NSC officials knew the French were to be told about the pull-out the day of the pact announcement – and predicted they’d be surprised and upset.
The Biden administration’s explanation of what Biden knew and when hasn’t been clear.
Biden’s climate envoy, former Secretary of State John Kerry, told French broadcaster BFMTV last month, ‘He literally had not been aware of what transpired.’
‘He asked me. He said, “What’s the situation?” And I explained exactly. He had not been aware of that,’ Kerry said.
When White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Kerry’s comments she said, ‘I would encourage you to ask John Kerry specifically about the context of his comments.’
She had been asked by Fox’s Peter Doocy ‘why doesn’t he know about these things in real time?’
‘Of course he knew about the French being displeased,’ she said. ‘That’s certainly not what he was intending to convey.’
A secret leaked text message (pictured) appears to show that Emmanuel Macron was given warning that Australia would torpedo its $90billion submarine deal with France
An awkward handshake in Rome between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left)