White House
President Donald Trump was criticized on Saturday for not attending a World War I memorial service about 50 miles from Paris because of rainy weather.
The trip to Ainse-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial was canceled “due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather,” the White House said, per a press pool report.
A delegation led by White House chief of staff John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford attended in Trump’s place.
The White House said visibility issues precluded Trump from taking his helicopter to the site, and later said that they didn’t want to send the presidential motorcade, as it would disrupt Paris’s traffic.
Ben Rhodes, who was former President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, tweeted that the White House’s reasoning didn’t make sense.
“I helped plan all of President Obama’s trips for 8 years,” Rhodes tweeted. “There is always a rain option. Always.”
But on Sunday, Trump did speak at a ceremony at Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris in what the Washington Examiner called “soaking rain.”
Still, that didn’t stop the French Army on Monday from trolling Trump for not attending the ceremony on Saturday, tweeting “There is rain, but it does not matter… We remain motivated,” along with a picture of a soldier crawling under wire in the rain.
Here are 9 photos of past and present world leaders honoring veterans and fallen troops in the rain.
President Dwight Eisenhower walks in the rain to the Tomb of Italy’s unknown soldiers in Rome.
Associated Press
President John F. Kennedy and French President Charles DeGaulle stand in the pouring rain at Paris’s Arch of Triumph.
Associated Press
President Barack Obama at the Tomb of the Unknowns during a Veteran’s Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Associated Press
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- The stories of 10 famous people who served in World War 1
- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed at least 500,000 people, according to a new report that breaks down the toll
- 15 heartwarming photos of US Army soldiers on and off duty
