colleague, the minister of defense, jean-yves le drian come here to the pentagon. france, as you may know, is america's oldest ally. too short. >> i had a french girlfriend once. can you just hold it like this? highly motivated. >> let me start again and thank my good friend, my colleague my admired colleague, the minister of defense of france, jean-yves le drian, here to the pentagon. france is america's oldest

thank my good friend, my colleague my admired colleague, the minister of defense of france, jean-yves le drian here to the pentagon. france is america's oldest ally, and today our security partnership is the strongest it's ever been. i first want to thank the minister for spending our independence day new procedure he was aboard a sailing ship replicate of the frigate made famous in 1780 by its voyage across the atlantic when it carried the marquis de lafayette, the legendary general, and friend of the american revolution. in a sermon at a board of the ship on saturday, minister le drian commemorated the 70th anniversary of our shared victory in world war ii, another example of u.s.french security cooperation. by a board in france's highest recognition, the legion of honor, american world war ii veterans, minister, thank you for celebrating america's birthday with us. thank you for honoring our veterans. and thank you for reaffirming our centuries long alliance. we just finished a productive discussion on shared concerns, ongoing operations, and opportunities to strengthen yet further our secu

for me to welcome my friend, my colleague maymy admired colleague, the minister of defense jean-yves le driancome here to the pentagon. france, as you may know, is america's oldest ally. [speaking french] [laughter] too short. >> i had a french girlfriend once. [laughter] can you just hold it like this? highly motivated. [speaking french] [laughter] >> let me start again and thank my good friend, my colleague, my admired colleague, the minister of defense of france jean-yves le drian, here to the pentagon. france is america's oldest ally and today our security partnership is the strongest it's ever been. i first want to thank the minister for spending our independence day new procedure he was aboard a sailing ship replicate of the frigate made famous in 1780 by its voyage across the atlantic when it carried the marquis de lafayette, the legendary general, and friend of the american revolution. in a sermon at a board of the ship on saturday, minister le drian commemorated the 70th anniversary of our shared victory in world war ii another example of u.s.-french security cooperation. by a board