December 1, 2022

President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, presented a united front Thursday at the White House, pledging to sort out their economic differences and presenting an overture to Vladimir Putin should the Russian leader show interest in ending the war in Ukraine.

Biden hosted Marcon for a state visit — the first of his presidency — as a nod to the two nations’ longtime friendship and the renewed commitment to trans-Atlantic alliances in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But a growing tension surrounded their meeting, with Marcon out front among European leaders in expressing frustration at their economic relationship with the United States.

But both men, after an hours-long summit that preceded a glitzy state dinner, focused on the deep ties between their nations and their shared commitments to defeating Putin and helping the world rebound from a global pandemic and weather a possible impending recession.

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