President Trump Calls the U.S.-France Relationship ‘Unbreakable.’ History Shows He’s Right.
April 23, 2018 6 minute read
America’s relationship with France predates our founding as a country. From the days of Benjamin Franklin and General Marquis de Lafayette to the modern day with Presidents Donald J. Trump and Emmanuel Macron, U.S. and French leaders have long shared common values on a range of economic and security-related issues.
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome the French President and his wife, Mrs. Brigitte Macron, to the White House on April 24. The occasion marks the first official State Visit under the Trump Administration, as well as the first State Visit from France since President Francois Hollande came to Washington in 2014.
The two couples will meet for a scenic tour of the monuments in our Nation’s capital Monday evening before the official visit begins. They will then travel to the home of President George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia, for a private dinner before participating in the State Arrival Ceremony on the White House South Lawn Tuesday morning.
To appreciate the importance of the visit, it is key to understand the rich history between France and the United States.
French settlers came to the American continent as early as the 1500s. When the American colonists were fighting for independence, France supported our Revolutionary War with military and economic aid from 1775 to 1781. French leaders also formally recognized our new Nation as early as 1778.
State Dinner Photos From Throughout History
Engraving of King Kalakaua of Hawaii visiting President Ulysses S. Grant on December 12, 1874, in the Blue Room. (White House Historical Association)
The long corridor used for a State Dinner 1898. (Library of Congress by Frances Benjamin Johnston)
The State Dinner table setting in the East Room of the White House for Prince Henry of Prussia on February 24, 1902. (Library of Congress by H.C. White Co.)
President Harry S. Truman, General Charles de Gaulle of France, and other military leaders saluting on the South Lawn, Aug. 22, 1945. (White House Historical Association by Abbie Rowe)
Arrival ceremony for President Georges Pompidou of France on February 24, 1970. (White House Historical Association by Joseph J. Scherschel)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada, President Jimmy Carter, Margaret Trudeau, and First Lady Rosalynn Carter on the Truman Balcony at State Visit arrival ceremony, February 21, 1977. (White House Historical Association from Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)
President Ronald Reagan, First Lady Nancy Reagan, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, and Mrs. Lee stand on the North Portico of the White House on October 8, 1985. (White House Historical Association from Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and President George H. W. Bush plant a little-leaf linden tree on the South Lawn of the White House Grounds in May 1991 during an official State Visit. She planted the tree to replace the one her father, King George VI, planted in 1937 that was lost due to a storm in September 1990. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth's husband, and First Lady Barbara Bush observe the ceremony from afar. (White House Historical Association from George Bush Presidential Library and Museum)
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush stand with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France on the North Portico of the White House after his arrival for a State Dinner on November 6, 2007. (White House Historical Association from George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum)
Some of America’s most prominent Founding Fathers—Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson—served as U.S. diplomats to France. French style was incorporated throughout early American art and architecture, including at the White House. While refurbishing the structure after the fire of 1814, President James Monroe ordered a suite of French furniture for what is now the Blue Room. And one of America’s icons, the Statue of Liberty, was a gift from France in 1886.
Much of our Nation’s modern-day relationship with France dates to World War II, including the post-war institutions that underpinned both the Western order and our ideological confrontation with communism. France and America were two of the original five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The countries are party to several of the same multilateral groups, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), G-7, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The two countries also enjoy a strong trade relationship: France is America’s third-largest trade partner in Europe. When President Trump met with President Macron in Paris last year, the two leaders agreed to pursue a trading environment that was free and fair for workers in both countries.
“Both President Macron and I understand our responsibility to prioritize the interests of our countries and, at the same time, to be respectful of the world in which we live,” President Trump said. “The friendship between our two nations—and ourselves, I might add—is unbreakable.”
During the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson was Ambassador to France. He convinced the French to send their West Indies fleet to the U.S. where they cornered Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown
Does this mean DC is going to apologize for ameriKan abuse of France at the time it wisely took a pass on getting involved in the War of Terror? Morons are still calling the French cowards for it.
USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Does this mean DC is going to apologize for ameriKan abuse of France at the time it wisely took a pass on getting involved in the War of Terror? Morons are still calling the French cowards for it.
Actually, the GWOT was something Bush and Cheney dreamed up.
Only Congress can declare war. So all this gobbledygook about our Constitutional rights being suspended because we are in a "declared state of war" is just nonsense. ;)
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
They stage things like the 9/11 attacks in order to steal our rights and prosperity, then on that excuse they throw "wars" to steal more of our rights and property.
USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um