“Before President Emmanuel Macron of France went on national television to announce his call for snap parliamentary elections, he privately alerted President Joe Biden, who was wrapping up a five-day trip to France for the D-Day anniversary,” Politico reports.
“At first, people in Biden’s inner circle were merely startled by Macron’s gamble, viewing it as the kind of daring maneuver that has defined Macron’s disruptive political career.
Having been trounced by the far right in the European elections, Macron was demanding a rematch with much higher stakes.”“But that initial reaction has more recently curdled into puzzlement and dismay, as Washington has begun to accept that Macron is headed for defeat.”