On Tues. 18 Jun 1940 US Secretary of State Cordell Hull directed Deputy.....

US Secretary of State Cordell Hull directed Deputy US Ambassador to France Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. to inform the French government that if France failed to keep its fleet out of German hands, France would "permanently lose the friendship and goodwill of the Government of the United States". French Minister for Foreign Affairs Baudouin reiterated that the French fleet "would never be surrendered to Germany".

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