Joe Biden to host Emmanuel Macron for White House state dinner
Joe Biden will host Emmanuel Macron for a White House state banquet tonight as a part of the French President’s three-day US trip.
The pair will have a four-course meal at the lavish dinner, which will come after tensions flared between Paris and Washington yesterday.
Macron hit out at America’s “very aggressive” Inflation Reduction Act, which the EU and UK have complained will hurt European companies.
The legislation sees almost $400bn of subsidies given to low-carbon businesses, with a large portion of it earmarked for US firms.
Macron said today before a bilateral meeting between the pair that the Ukraine war will be the “first topic of discussion”.
Biden said: “Things are changing rapidly, really rapidly. And it’s really important that we stay in close communication. It doesn’t mean that every single solitary thing we agree on, but it does mean we agree on almost everything.”
Macron said “we want to build peace, and sustainable peace means full respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but at the same time a new architecture”.
Biden and Macron will be hoping to cool tensions over the Inflation Reduction Act over tonight’s dinner, which will include butter poached Maine lobster and a calotte of beef.
First Lady Jill Biden also insisted that American cheese had to be served.