French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States. It is also the first state visit hosted by US President Joe Biden since his inauguration. It is “an honor that is done to France more than to any other European country”, we salute, on the French side.
On this occasion, the French president does not cross the Atlantic alone. He brings in his luggage a delegation of prestigious French names, from the world of finance, culture or space.
Spatial politics and cultural representation
The French astronaut Thomas Pesquet will thus be present together with Emmanuel Macron, as well as Sophie Adenot, recently retained in the new promotion of European astronauts. Philippe Baptiste, president of CNES (National Center for Space Studies), will also be on the trip, as will astrophysicist Fatoumata Kébé.
In fact, space policy will be part of the discussions on this trip, and a sequence is scheduled for Wednesday at the headquarters of NASA (US space agency), together with US Vice President Kamala Harris.
The delegation’s list also includes several representatives of the world of French culture: the French dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, the “francophone and Francophile” American writer Douglas Kennedy, the president and director of the Louvre Museum Laurence des Cars, the director Claude Lelouch or Valérie Senghor, Deputy Director General of the Center for National Monuments.
The great French travel bosses
Discussions about trade between the two countries will obviously be on the table. We therefore find on the list the names of the heads of large French companies, with Xavier Niel (Free), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Patrick Pouyanné (Total), Luc Rémont (EDF), Rodolphe Saadé (Compagnie maritima d ‘affrètement – Compagnie General Maritime), but also Guillaume d’Hauteville (Deezer) and Thibault Lanxade (Luminess).
Several elected officials will also accompany Emmanuel Macron, notably Deputy Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Antoine Lefèvre, Chairman of the France-US friendship group.
The Ministers of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, but also the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu and the Minister of Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau, will also be with the President during his trip.
Source: BFM TV
