RON ON THE ATTACK PUTIN’S THUMBS UP FOR DONALD
First ladies: Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump at the Palace of Versailles in Paris yesterday ident Vladimir Putin were among several leaders who missed the moment the bells tolled at 11am after arriving late. Mr Putin and Mr Trump shook hands and exchanged pats on the back as they took their place for the service. The Russian president, who was the last to arrive, also gave Mr Trump a thumbs-up.
The solemn ceremony took place in a glass canopy at the foot of the arch, built by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806.
As Mr Trump travelled towards the arch in his armoured limousine known as ‘The Beast’, a topless woman bearing the messages ‘fake’ and ‘peace’ on her chest threw herself at his motorcade in protest. Two other women also tried to approach the President, but were stopped by security guards. Some 10,000 police officers lined the streets of Paris along with military units to guard the VIP guests in one of the biggest security operations in French history. Infrared missiles and rooftop snipers were available to commanders, along with mobile units of elite anti-terrorist officers.
Those in the French capital for the day also included Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Italian president Sergio Mattarella, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar.