Trump offers advice on fighting fire

WASHINGTON— As a catastrophic inferno tore through a cultural treasure, President Donald Trump assessed the response from 4,000 miles away and offered advice for firefighters trying to save Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral.

“Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out,” Trump tweeted from Air Force One, minutes before landing in Minnesota for a Tax Day speech. “Must act quickly!”

Trump’s armchair observations were striking, even for a president who seems to offer an opinion about just about everything.

Just hours before, Trump had weighed in on Boeing’s ongoing troubles after two crashes of its new airliner, suggesting a rebranding campaign is in order for the beleaguered 737 Max, and he’d spent the previous day commentating on professional golf as Tiger Woods overcame long odds to win the Masters on Sunday.

In what appeared to be a direct jibe at Trump, France’s civil security agency posted its only English-language message during the incident: “All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”

The disaster appeared to resonate with the president, who called Notre Dame “one of the great treasures of the world” and declared it to be “beyond countries, that’s beyond anything. It’s a part of our growing up, it’s a part of our culture, it’s a part of our lives.”

On his way back to Washington, he tweeted, “God bless the people of France!”