The Bidens’ first state dinner features butter-poached lobster with a side of

CNN
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President Joe Biden hosted French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Thursday, using the very first state dinner of his presidency to shore up relations with a key American ally whose friendship has until recently been on the rocks.

Sources close to the planning described a super-sized event under a tent on the White House grounds, including not only the many Democrats clamoring for social time at the White House but also a number of officials and policy staffers interested in strengthening relations with France.

In his remarks celebrating ties between the two nations, Biden offered a toast to “the enduring alliance between France and United States,” calling the alliance “a partnership that’s marked by so many firsts.”

The two presidents raised glasses, with Biden saying, “Vive la France and God bless America.”

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The moment takes on extra meaning because of how long the Bidens have waited to hold a state dinner – so long, in fact, that many Democrats worried they were squandering it as a valuable diplomatic tool.

Advisers to the president told CNN the dinner is part of the US effort to revitalize ties with France. It comes a year after the US announced a surprise US-Australia submarine partnership – upending France’s own submarine deal with Australia and infuriating French officials. The perilous relations are no small matter, given the array of major challenges facing the larger western alliance.

“If you look at what’s going on in Ukraine, look at what’s going on in the Indo-Pacific and the tensions with China, France is really at the center of all those things,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications. “President Macron has been the dynamic leader inside the G7 … so the President felt that this was exactly the right and the most appropriate country to start with for state visits.”

In an early sign of that diplomacy, the Elysee confirmed to CNN on Thursday a series of gifts exchanged between the world leaders and their spouses.

Macron gifted his US counterpart a centerpiece from French goldsmith and tableware house, Christofle, the Elysee said. The present, crafted in 2012, is a tribute to the French transatlantic liner, the “Normandie,” which sailed with a Christofle silverware collection in the interwar period, per the Elysee.

Biden was also presented with a vinyl record and CD of the soundtrack of the film “A man and a woman,” directed by Frenchman Claude Lelouch. The Elysee described the gift as a “nod to the personal history of the Biden couple” as they watched the 1966 film during their first date. The film also won France’s highest film award, the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival.

First lady Jill Biden received two French literary works:…