French President Emmanuel Macron did not take a congratulatory phone call from President Joe Biden on Sunday after winning reelection.
“I tried to talk to him last night,” Biden told reporters Monday morning. “I spoke to his staff and he was at the Eiffel Tower having a good time.”
The president did not connect with Macron at any point Sunday or early Monday, but shared a congratulatory message on social media.
Other world leaders did connect with Macron last night, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Biden did not appear visibly upset by Macron’s snub as he returned to the White House after another weekend at his home in Delaware.
“I’m going to be talking to him today,” Biden told reporters.
Macron secured his re-election over Marine Le Pen by double digits despite his approval rating of 36 percent.
The two presidents have a complicated relationship, as the French president was deeply upset by the administration’s deal with Australia on nuclear submarines.
Front pages of the French newspapers show France’s centrist incumbent president Emmanuel Macron after beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen for a second five-year term on April 25, 2022 in Paris, France. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Macron has also repeatedly criticized Biden for his escalatory rhetoric against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prior to the French elections, Biden was quiet about any support for Macron — even though former President Barack Obama endorsed him in a 2017 video.
“I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward,” Obama said at the time, adding in French, “En marche! Vive la France!”