Trump was supposed to visit the Great War cemetery at Belleau Wood this morning but he skipped it because it’s raining.
After an hour of talks between the two leaders and lunch with their wives Melania and Brigitte, Mr Trump had been scheduled to visit two American cemeteries over the weekend, but later cancelled his trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial due to “scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather”.
The White House said that Gen John Kelly, its chief of staff, would attend on the president’s behalf.
The decision attracted much derision on social media, including from former George W Bush speechwriter David Frum who like many drew comparisons with the conditions faced by the troops who fought and died in World War One.
But bottom line: Trump willfully insisted on an unnecessary trip to France to mark the WW1 centenary -then once he got there shirked on grounds of weather the job of honoring those who fought and died in rain and mud 100 years ago https://t.co/7u3qZCmBRB pic.twitter.com/5TX1WLt9k8
— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 10, 2018
Mr Trump is still expected to attend a sombre commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial to France’s fallen under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the town of Compiègne in northern France, where the Allies and Germany signed the Armistice.
Visiting heads of state will then gather for dinner in Paris in the evening.
Sunday afternoon will see Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel attend a peace conference – the Paris Peace Forum – with leaders including Mr Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr Trump will not be present, however, which his National Security Adviser John Bolton put down to a diary full of “pressing issues”.
By which of course he means much tv to watch.
On the Marine Corps' 243rd birthday, President Trump has cancelled, because of light rain, his long-planned attendance at the ceremony at Aisne-Marne, where Marines who fought at Belleau Wood are buried. The WH COS and JCS Chair will be there. The President couldn't be bothered.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 10, 2018
They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen #hesnotfittorepresenthisgreatcountry
— Nicholas Soames (@NSoames) November 10, 2018
It's incredible that a president would travel to France for this significant anniversary – and then remain in his hotel room watching TV rather than pay in person his respects to the Americans who gave their lives in France for the victory gained 100 years ago tomorrow
— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 10, 2018
Comments
8 responses to “Canceled due to rain”
He traveled there specifically for the event, but then his diary was full. Just when you think you have the measure of the man, he becomes even more pathetic.
Well when he decided to go he didn’t realize it could rain there. Came as a complete shock.
But…but…but…the TV is really good this weekend!
He could have used Barron’s umbrella…
Adapted from something I saw on Twitter:
In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow,
but it’s a little drizzly, so Trump won’t go.
Trump cancelled due to the unexpected revelation that the midterms are over. He will resume his memorial duties in June, 2020.
It would have made his hair look bad…well, make his hair look a way that even HE would notice was bad.
As Canadian PM Justin Trudeau pointed out, the soldiers faced things much worse than rain.
Twitter users responded by posting lots of pictures of Obama making public appearances in rainy weather, and even Ronald Reagan and George Bush I and/or II doing so.
Furthermore, this was the 100th anniversary of the end of that war, so might he have had something to say about it and its broader meanings?