Home »

President Trump went to Paris for the first anniversary of the end of World War I to pay tribute to U.S. Soldiers who died in rain and dirt for America, but Trump canceled his visit to put a wreath at the cemetery of American fallen Soldiers due to rainy conditions

November 12, 2018
American soldiers who fought and died in rain and dirt for America during the World War I. U.S. President Donald Trump accompanied by his First Lady Melania Trump and a Delegation went to Paris on Saturday Nov. 11, 2018 for paying tribute to American and French soldiers who died in World War I. But President Trump suddenly canceled his visit to put a wreath and practice a second of silence for paying tribute to American fallen soldiers who died for the Country in World War I. The White House explained the cancellation was due to rainy conditions made it unsafe for President to fly there via helicopter as planned.

VietPress USA (Nov. 12, 2018):  According to the website history.com:

“Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.”

On Veteran Day, Nov. 11, 2018, President Donald Trump, accompanied by his First Lady Melania Trump and a U.S. Delegation went to Paris for paying tribute to American and French soldiers who died in World War I.

At the ceremony to the 100-year anniversary of the war’s end organized in Paris, President Trump said: 

“The American and French patriots of World War I embody the timeless virtues of our two republics,” Trump said during a ceremony at Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris. “Honor and courage. Strength and valor. Love and loyalty, grace and glory.”
“It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended and to protect the peace they so nobly gave their lives to secure one century ago,” Trump said in a speech that lasted about 10 minutes.

Trump thanked military leaders and foreign dignitaries who were on hand to hear him honor service members “who shed their blood in a horrible, horrible war, but a war known as the Great War.”

The president also recognized six veterans of World War II who were in attendance. During his speech, Trump mentioned the “legendary Marines” known as the “Devil Dogs.”
Looking toward his chief of staff, Trump said John Kelly, who served as a general in the Marine Corps, is familiar with the term Devil Dogs. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and several members of Congress were also in attendance.

On another matter, Trump praised a 13-year-old U.S. boy who traveled to Paris to attend the ceremony. Trump said: “Matthew is in the eighth grade, and he worked and saved all of his money for two years to make this trip to France. He wanted to be here in person to honor the American heroes of World War I. Matthew, thank you. You make us very proud. You’re way ahead of your time, Matthew.”
Trump said he was honored to be a part of the “very beautiful” ceremony in Paris that commemorated the end of World War I.
“Exactly 100 years ago today, on November 11, 1918, World War I came to an end,” Trump said. “Thank God. It was a brutal war.”

But for the moment to visit the 100-year old World War I cemetery  on Saturday at Aisne-Marne American cemetery within the village of Belleau, President Trump suddenly canceled his visit to put a wreath and practice a second of silence for paying tribute to American fallen soldiers who died for the Country in World War I.

On Saturday, the White House scrapped the president’s visit to a ceremony for fallen American soldiers at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Paris, saying rainy conditions made it unsafe to fly there via helicopter as planned.

The French military has joined the outpouring of complaint over Donald Trump’s choice to cancel a discuss with to a First International Warfare cemetery on account of “deficient climate”, after posting a tweet mocking the president. 
A put up at the military’s authentic Twitter account displays a soldier crawling at the floor within the rain, accompanied via the caption: “#MondayMotivation. There may be rain, however it isn’t critical. We are staying motivated.” 

Nicolas Soames, a grandson of Sir Winston Churchill and Conservative MP for Mid Sussex led the complaint, branding the president a “pathetic insufficient”. 
“They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic insufficient @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the elements to pay his respects to The Fallen,” he wrote on Twitter.

David Frum, a former speech author for President George W Bush, tweeted that Mr. Trump had “shirked on grounds of climate the task of honoring those that fought and died in rain and dirt”.

Others on social media when compared Mr. Trump along with his predecessor’s efforts within the rain, posting pictures of Mr. Obama talking all through downpours.


Read this report from Bloomberg on Yahoo News at:  

oOo




Trump Leaves World War Commemorations Isolated Among Allies

Marc Champion,
(Bloomberg) -- For U.S. President Donald Trump, attending a French-run ceremony to commemorate World War I, a bloodletting that highlighted the value of allies and dangers of nationalism, was never going to be easy. By the time he flew home on Sunday he appeared isolated and, by some, scorned.
Trump arrived fresh off midterm elections where his party lost control of the House of Representatives even as he kept control of the Senate. A Twitter storm over his failure on Saturday to attend a commemoration service of Marines who died a century ago on the battlefields of France is unlikely to affect him domestically, with his backers and opponents already well entrenched.
Abroad, though, the equivalent of any modern U.S. president’s base -- the network of alliances built up through two World Wars and beyond -- appears more fragile. That’s a risk for a leader who may need their cooperation as he confronts China in a trade war and Iran over its foreign and nuclear policies.
The weekend exposed tensions with U.S. allies in Europe over Trump’s decision to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, which has kept the continent free of theater-range nuclear missiles for more than 30 years.
Trump Tweets
Returning to Washington on Monday, Trump said he had accomplished a lot with the other leaders, but acknowledged tensions over his long-standing demands on trade and defense spending. “Never easy bringing up the fact that the U.S. must be treated fairly, which it hasn’t, on both Military and Trade,” he wrote in a flurry of tweets.
“We pay for LARGE portions of other countries military protection,.............hundreds of billions of dollars, for the great privilege of losing hundreds of billions of dollars with these same countries on trade. I told them that this situation cannot continue.”
It also underlined growing concerns over the reliability of U.S. security guarantees under Trump, and his wider commitment to a postwar international order the U.S. was largely responsible for building and has benefited from, including economically.
In Asia, Trump’s decision not to attend a pair of annual Asia summits this month -- the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Papua New Guinea and events hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore -- is set to heighten concerns over U.S. reliability among allies there. Vice President Mike Pence will attend in Trump’s place.
Diplomatic Land-Mines
French President Emmanuel Macron peppered the field with diplomatic land-mines before Trump arrived in Paris, staging the weekend’s ceremonies to promote his own liberal and internationalist view of how the world should respond to the wave of nationalism that’s sweeping the U.S. and parts of Europe.
Even before the 60-plus heads of state and government hit town, Macron criticized Trump over the INF treaty withdrawal. Speaking to Europe 1 radio on Nov. 6, he repeated his calls for a “true European army” as part of a drive for greater Continental autonomy to defend against China, Russia -- and an increasingly unreliable U.S. Trump fired back on Twitter, moments after landing in Paris, describing the comment as “insulting.”
The two leaders appeared to make up as the weekend got under way. But on Sunday, at the main ceremony to mark the signing of the World War I armistice 100 years ago, Macron again appeared to have Trump in his sights as he attacked nationalism.
“France was shown as the bearer of universal values during these dark hours, as the very opposite of a selfish nation that only looks after its own interest,” Macron said, using language that seemed to target Trump’s “America First policies.” Macron stood beside German Chancellor Angela Merkel as he spoke. “Nationalism,’’ he went on to say, “is a betrayal of patriotism.”
Peace Forum Snub
The French leader also convened a “Paris Peace Forum” as part of the weekend’s ceremonies, drawing together international organizations and non-profits to discuss how to strengthen global governance.
Merkel, a fellow champion of liberal internationalist ideas, addressed the forum on Sunday, taking up some of the same themes.
“I want to speak of my concerns that are mixed in with today’s commemoration, the concern that national blinders are spreading again, that actions are taken as if to simply ignore our mutual dependencies, relationships and binding ties,” Merkel said. She went on to wonder if the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights could be adopted today, adding, “I fear, not.”
Other leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan were in the audience to hear Merkel. Trump didn’t attend, and left Paris on Air Force One shortly after the forum began.
Rain Check
On Saturday, the White House scrapped the president’s visit to a ceremony for fallen American soldiers at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Paris, saying rainy conditions made it unsafe to fly there via helicopter as planned.
Apart from Trump’s typical detractors at home, some of the fiercest criticism over Saturday’s no-show came from Europe’s strongest supporters of the U.S. alliance.
“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,” Winston Churchill’s grandson, the Conservative British MP Nicholas Soames, wrote on Twitter.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other White House personnel attended Saturday’s ceremony. Trump visited and delivered remarks at the Suresnes American Cemetery just outside of Paris on Sunday.
While Merkel and Macron are pushing back on “America First,” Trump has a growing number of like-minded allies among Europe’s leaders, including in Hungary, Italy and Poland, but they’re as yet too few to set European policy. And he’s also seemed more comfortable with Putin at international gatherings.
Lunch Arrangements
Efforts to have the two sit next to each other at lunch on Sunday came to nothing, when the Elysee Palace changed the seating order, according to a Russian official. Trump sat across the table from Putin, who instead talked to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the spokesman said. The Elysee denied any switch in seating arrangements. Putin and Trump are expected to have a meeting at the G-20 summit in Argentina later this month.
Putin praised Macron’s drive for a more unified European military, pointing out that it isn’t new. But the idea has gained steam since the U.K. -- always an opponent -- voted to leave the European Union, and Trump’s election began to sow doubts about U.S. reliability. A stronger European military would take a step toward building the “multi-polar’’ order for which Russia has long argued, Putin said. That’s a model Moscow believes would dilute the transatlantic alliance.
Speaking on Bloomberg Television on Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed concerns over Trump’s commitment to the Western alliance, despite his light footprint at the weekend’s ceremonies.
“What’s important is that he participated in the ceremony and at the dinner and at the lunch, and that he spoke to a great many heads of state and government,” said Stoltenberg. “Peace and security in Europe depend on the U.S., and he knows that.”
In a separate interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, a key U.S. ally, said that Trump’s absence at the Asian meetings this week didn’t amount to a snub.
“He’s got his reasons for not being there,” Morrison said on Monday. “The U.S. is very engaged in the region and the president, I understand, will be at the G-20 in Buenos Aires. So there’s a lot of these meetings at this time of the year.”
(Updates with Trump’s Twitter comments in paragraphs six and seven.)
--With assistance from Ilya Arkhipov, Gregory Viscusi, Annmarie Hordern, Justin Sink, Shannon Pettypiece, Nick Wadhams, Helene Fouquet, Patrick Donahue, Gregory L. White, Alan Crawford and Jason Scott.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marc Champion in London at mchampion7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
oOo

Hạnh Dương
www.Vietpressusa.us

Related Post: ,