U.S. President Donald Trump came under fire on Saturday after canceling a visit to an American World War I military cemetery in France because of rainy weather. Trump, who is in France for commemorations marking the centenary of the end of the war, and his wife Melania were to have flown by helicopter to the Belleau Wood battlefield and cemetery where U.S. Marines faced off against German forces in 1918. “The President and First Lady’s trip to Ainse-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial has been canceled due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather,” a White House statement said. Instead, Trump sent his Chief of Staff General John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford in his place to the site, which lies 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Paris. Some saw Trump’s no-show in Belleau Wood as a sign of disrespect to U.S. soldiers who fought and died in the trenches. More than 7,000 were killed or wounded in the June 1918 battle at Bellau Wood and the cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 war dead. The visit was one of two Trump had planned to war cemeteries on a weekend coinciding with Veterans Day in the U.S. ‘Fallen American heroes’ The cancellation drew derision from some critics, with several suggesting he was afraid of messing up his hair and others noting that the rain had not stopped French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from… [Read full story]
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