French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump yesterday marked France’s national day together at a military parade that clearly delighted Trump and showcased warming relations between the two leaders.
Macron invited Trump to be his guest of honor at the Bastille Day celebration, which featured French and US troops marching down the Champs-Elysees in Paris, opening to a flyover by two US F-22 stealth jets and climaxing in a roaring pass by French jets.
Trump, 71, was frequently on his feet and applauding, while he and Macron again looked at ease in each other’s company, leaning in to chat and touching each other on the shoulder.
Photo: Reuters
“Nothing will ever separate us,” Macron said during a speech at the end of parade, adding that Trump’s presence was “the sign of a friendship across the ages” between their nations.
The parade this year marked the centenary of the US’ entrance into World War I and featured 63 planes, 29 helicopters, 241 horses and 3,720 soldiers, including US troops dressed in the brown uniform and gaiters of the Great War.
“It was a great honor to represent the United States at the magnificent #BastilleDay parade,” Trump said on Twitter after his departure, which featured another long and muscular handshake between the men.
“Congratulations President @EmmanuelMacron!” he added.
However, the celebrations were also tinged with mourning as they marked the one-year anniversary of a massacre in Nice where a man drove a truck into a crowd, killing 86.
Macron, 39, rolled out the red carpet for Trump’s two-day visit, hoping to improve relations and persuade the US president to change his mind about withdrawing from the global Paris agreement on climate change.
Trump said after their talks on Thursday that “something could happen with respect to the Paris accord ... but we will talk about that over the coming period of time.”
Trump had appeared isolated at the G20 meeting last weekend in Germany over his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement and his protectionist stance on trade.
The warm body language between him and Macron seemed at odds with broader concerns about the transatlantic relationship since Trump’s electoral victory in November last year.
Trump on Thursday also said that the bond between the US and France, as well as the friendship between him and Macron, was “unbreakable.”
Despite their differences on climate change and trade, the two leaders in their talks focused on their close cooperation in fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
This year’s celebrations are tinged by memories of last year’s bloodbath in Nice, when a Tunisian man drove a truck into crowds of families following a fireworks display.
In less than three minutes, 86 people — including 15 children — were crushed to death and another 450 were injured. Of the dead, 37 were foreigners of 19 different nationalities.
Instead of fireworks this year on the Promenade des Anglais seafront boulevard, there will be candles, a memory book and a solemn speech by Macron.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack by one of its “soldiers” — 31-year-old Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, shot dead at the end of his rampage — although no direct link has been found.
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