Submarine treaty another clumsy policy execution by this president
‘We look forward to the phonecall between President Biden and President Macron once its time is fixed on the books’
‘You always have to work on your relationships and that includes global leaders’
US officials are desperately trying to rebuild bridges with France after failing to anticipate the fallout over the nuclear-powered submarine deal with Australia.
Behind the scenes it has emerged that, rather than being a calculated casting aside of America’s oldest ally, the US state department simply did not expect France to be so enraged by the new treaty. It was a further example of clumsy policy execution by Joe Biden’s administration which, with its eyes so firmly set on countering China, has repeatedly omitted to consider the impact its actions will have on its closest allies.
Some US officials have been suggesting that French rage at the move represents political grandstanding ahead of a presidential election in April.
But a full-court press is still underway to woo back a key ally as the row has damaged Joe Biden’s priority of building a strong coalition to counter growing Chinese influence in the Indo-pacific.
One senior US administration official said efforts were being made for Mr Biden to speak to Emmanuel
Macron as soon as possible, but the French had not yet scheduled a time.
The senior official said: “We understand the French position. We don’t share their view in terms of how this all developed, but we understand their position, and we will continue to be engaged in the coming days on this.
“We look forward to the phonecall between President Biden and President Macron once it’s time is fixed on the books.”
Mr Biden intends to talk to Mr Macron about specific areas where the US and France can work together, including “intensive cooperation” on counter-terrorism in the Sahel, Africa, a US official said.
But the US is refusing to countenance French demands to be compensated over the loss of its £72.8billion deal with Australia.
Mr Macron was originally due to give a pre-recorded address yesterday to the United Nations General Assembly but that was cancelled. Instead, foreign minister Jean-yves Le Drian will give a video speech on Friday.
While US officials reject the French depiction of the incident as a diplomatic defenestration there is a growing acceptance that the way in which it was conducted, without keeping the Élysée Palace in the loop, was politically tone deaf.
In the US it has also bolstered the view that Mr Biden is not helped by receiving advice from the same set of long-term advisers, who may have succumbed to groupthink.
Mr Biden has not waded into the row with France personally. He spent his weekend in Delaware, going to church and on a bike ride.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said US officials were “still working on the scheduling” of Mr Biden’s call with Mr Macron.
She said the White House was well aware that there were a “couple of hundred jobs that were lost” in France due to the cancellation of the Australian submarine contract.
Ms Psaki added: “Certainly, that is a factor for them [France] domestically. We understand that. You always have to work on your relationships and that includes global leaders.”