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| US president Barack Obama and French president François Hollande during a welcoming ceremony at the White House |
The nuance may have been lost in translation, but there was no mistaking the diplomatic love-in that came to rescue of beleaguered French president François Hollande on his state visit to Washington.
So warm was the welcome by a US president still grateful for support over Syria, that one French journalist asked whether l’Hexagone had now replaced Britain as the main object of American affection.
“I have two daughters who are both gorgeous and wonderful, and that’s how I feel about my outstanding European partners,” replied a flustered Obama, still trying out his pronunciation of President “Hoolong”.
Sensing diplomatic triumph, and possible German envy, Hollande quickly replied that he had four children, before reminding his hosts that the British had once sought to hang American revolutionaries from the nearest rope.
Not even American jokes about the awkwardness of earlier French exchange trips could temper the “rapprochement” during their hour-long joint press conference. Read on and comment » | Dan Roberts in Washington |Tuesday, February 11, 2014
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama refuses to say whether France has overtaken Britain as America's closest ally: I can no more pick between Paris and London than I can pick between Malia and Sasha, says president » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Tuesday, February 11, 2014
