Macron visits New Orleans
President celebrates French-american ties in iconic city
orleans: President Emmanuel Macron visited New Orleans, a city emblematic of historic Franco-american ties, to promote the French language and conclude his state visit to the United States.
The French president, on the third day of a US trip that included a lavish reception at the White House a night earlier, strolled New Orleans’ historic French Quarter – and held an unannounced face-toface meeting with Twitter owner Elon Musk.
Macron said the two had a “clear and honest” discussion during an hour-long meeting, and that he conveyed to Musk his – and Europe’s – concerns about content moderation on the influential platform.
“Transparent user policies, significant reinforcement of content moderation and protection of freedom of speech: efforts have to be made by Twitter to comply with European regulations,” Macron tweeted after the meeting.
Macron arrived in the iconic Louisiana city to a colourful welcome by a jazz band on the tarmac at the airport, before walking the French Quarter’s lively streets with his wife, Brigitte.
Macron strolled beside New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, clasping the hands of well-wishers and beaming widely. He spoke briefly with women holding signs in support of protests in Iran.
During an impromptu press briefing, he praised “a land of creolisation” where “French is loved”, and later announced a programme to broaden access to French language training.
He had said in Washington that he wanted to renovate the image of French in the United States, where it is “sometimes seen as elitist”.
Before taking off from Washington earlier Friday, Macron attended a breakfast with representatives of digital companies during which he, according to the Elysee, recalled “all the efforts” made since his first term to “make France the leading European country in tech”.
Once a French colonial city, New Orleans was sold to the United States by Napoleon as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and Macron has called it “the quintessential francophone land”.
Besides celebrating Frenchamerican ties, Macron paid tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in and around New Orleans and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2005.