Macron and Biden patch things up

The French ambassador to the United States is set to return to Washington, D.C. next week, following a much-needed heart-to-heart between President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, The Hill reports.
On Wednesday, the two world leaders spoke on the phone to discuss the elephant in the room — the U.S., U.K. and Australia's three-way defense pact — as well as France's resulting ire. Luckily, the rift was nothing a bit of communication — or, as Politico's Nahal Toosi put it, "marriage counseling" — couldn't fix.
"The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners," read a joint statement on the call. "President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden and Macron also agreed to a "process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives."
The statement then continued, in what The Economist's Sophie Pedder noted as a "key phrase secured by Macron": "The United States also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defense, that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to NATO."
Biden and Macron will meet in person at the end of October to continue discussions. In any event, considering U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ready to put the whole ordeal to bed, the call and subsequent statement really couldn't have come at a better time. Read more at The Hill.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump