Biden: U.S. ‘clumsy’ in submarine deal

Working to patch ROME — things up with an old ally, President Joe Biden told French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday the U.S. had been “clumsy” in its handling of a secret U.S.-British submarine deal with Australia, an arrangement that left France in the lurch and rattled Europe’s faith in American loyalty.

Biden and Macron greeted each other with handshakes and shoulder grabs before their first face-to-face meeting since the deal was publicly announced in September, marking the latest American effort to try to smooth hurt French sensibilities. Biden didn’t formally apologize to Macron, but conceded the U.S. should not have caught its oldest ally by surprise.

“I think what happened was — to use an English phrase — what we did was clumsy,” Biden said, adding the submarine deal “was not done with a lot of grace.”

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before,” he added.

The U.S.-led submarine contract supplanted a prior French deal to supply Australia with its own diesel-powered submarines. The U.S. argued that the move, which will arm the Pacific ally with higher-quality nuclear-powered boats, will better enable Australia to contain Chinese encroachment in the region.

Macron told reporters after the meeting: “We are building the trust again. Trust is like love. Declaration is good, but proof is better.”

The French leader said he believed Biden was sincere when he said he thought France had been informed about the submarine deal by Britain and Australia.

Seated beside Biden earlier, Macron said of the American president: “We clarified together what we had to clarify” when asked if U.S.-France relations had been repaired. “What really matters now is what we will do together in the coming weeks, the coming years.”