This is unprecedented for Gérald Darmanin. Thursday and Friday, the Minister of the Interior is visiting the United States for the first time as Minister of the Interior. This visit, which will take place under the sign of police cooperation, will also allow him to add to his profile an international touch that he lacked. This trip, announced Wednesday by his entourage, comes in a context of competition between Gabriel Attal, Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, and himself.
The names of Gérald Darmanin and Gabriel Attal are regularly put forward by members of the presidential party as candidates for the succession of Elisabeth Borne at Matignon, or even for the next presidential election. Especially since the head of state Emmanuel Macron has set a deadline of 100 days for the government, i.e. until July 14, to take stock, after the strong challenge to the pension reform.
Police cooperation
In February, Gabriel Attal made his first major international trip to the United States. In the entourage of Gérald Darmanin, there is no official question of a trip for the purposes of internal politics, but of police cooperation and a meeting with the C24, special committee on the decolonization of the United Nations, about of New Caledonia.
Exchanges with the agents and the management will focus on police cooperation whether in the field of classic crime or in the context of terrorism cases, it was explained in the entourage of the minister. The Minister will begin this trip in Washington where he will meet Lisa Monaco, the number two justice, on Thursday, then Alejandro Mayorkas, Minister of Homeland Security.
Management of major events
On the same day, he will visit the FBI site at Quantico where he will meet with the director of training, Thimoty Dunham. The next day, in New York, Gérald Darmanin will have discussions on the management of major events, a year before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
He will meet with the director of the New York police (NYPD), Keechant Sewell, before consultations at the United Nations within the framework of the special committee for decolonization (C24) relating to New Caledonia. Its official program will end on Friday evening with a reception with the French community in New York.