This time, in the drenches
President Trump didn’t let the rain stop him Sunday from visiting a cemetery for America’s war dead outside Paris — a day after skipping a similar ceremony due to wet weather.
At the Suresnes American Cemetery, where more than 1,500 US service members are buried, Trump praised the “great warriors who gave everything for family, country, God and freedom.
“It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended and to protect the peace they so nobly gave their lives to secure one century ago,” he said.
Standing at an open-air podium without an umbrella, Trump hailed the “American and French patriots” for enduring “rain, hail, snow, mud, poisonous gas, bullets and mortar” to secure a “great, great victory” over Germany.
“On this day in the year 1918, church bells rang out and celebrations ensued,” he said.
“But victory had come at a terrible cost. Countless would come home bearing the grisly scars of trench warfare.”
Trump presented an American flag “as a symbol of our nation’s gratitude” to Maj. Gen. William M. Matz Jr., head of the American Battle Monuments Commission, and also intro- duced Matthew Haske, 13, who the president said “worked and saved all of his money for two years to make this trip to France.
“He wanted to be here in person to honor the American heroes of World War I,” he added.
“Matthew, thank you. You make us very proud. You’re way ahead of your time.”
The boy is from Lynchburg, Va., according to WSET TV, which is based in that city.
Early in his remarks, Trump identified six World War II veterans among the crowd.
“You look so comfortable up there, under shelter, as we’re getting drenched,” he said. “You’re very smart people.”
On Saturday, Trump sparked a storm of criticism — including from Winston Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames, a British parliamentarian — by canceling plans to honor Americans killed in World War I’s bloody Battle of Belleau Wood.
The White House said Trump was unable to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, about 50 miles from Paris, “due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather.”
Several reports suggested the trip was scrubbed because the military didn’t want to risk flying Trump to the site in the presidential helicopter, Marine One.