Trump returned with art from envoy’s house
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has come under heavy fire for his decision in 2018 not to visit a US military cemetery while in Paris on an official visit.
What did he do instead? According to Bloomberg News, he killed time in the US ambassador’s palatial residence, the Hotel de Pontalba, where he admired several pieces of art. Next day, he ordered them loaded onto Air Force One for the return trip to Washington.
That fact was confirmed by a presidential spokesman, Judd Deere, who told AFP that Trump brought the artworks to be “prominently displayed in the People’s House” - the White House. But at the time, Bloomberg reported, Trump’s impulsive move raised eyebrows, stunning some of those involved, and sending state department lawyers scurrying to ensure the move was legal (they ultimately ruled that the artwork was US government property).
The incident began during Trump’s November 2018 visit to France for ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. While other foreign dignitaries travelled on November 10 to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, where hundreds of US Marines who died in the Battle of Belleau Wood are buried, Trump’s aides said rainy weather had prevented him from making the short trip.
The Atlantic magazine reported last week that Trump told senior aides at the time: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’” Instead, he spent time at residence of Ambassador Jamie McCourt, where he admired several pieces of fine art - notably a portrait and a bust of Benjamin Franklin, a revered Founding Father and the first US ambassador to France, as well as a set of silver figurines of Greek mythical characters.
The silver figurines - later evaluated as “fakes” by one expert - now sit on a fireplace mantel in the Oval Office, Bloomberg said. The bust and portrait of Franklin were also found to be replicas.