President Biden closed out his five-day trip to France by paying his respects at an American military cemetery that Donald Trump skipped when he was president. Before returning to the US, Biden honored America's war dead at the Aisne-Marne American cemetery in Belleau, about an hour outside Paris, the AP reports. He placed a wreath at the cemetery chapel before an expanse of white headstones marking the final resting place of more than 2,200 US troops who fought in World War I.
On the surface, the trip marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day and celebrated the alliance between the US and France. But during an election year when Trump has called into question fundamental understandings about America's global role, Biden has embraced his Republican predecessor and likely November opponent as a latent foil. Every ode to the transatlantic partnership was a reminder that Trump could upend those relationships. Trump had planned to go to the cemetery for a ceremony when he was in France in 2018 but canceled. White House aides blamed the rainy weather.
"It's the same story," Biden said in remarks Sunday, per the AP. "America showed up. America showed up to stop the Germans. America showed up to make sure that they did not prevail. And America shows up when we're needed just like our allies show for us." Biden ignored a direct question about Trump at the cemetery but said it was important to visit the hallowed ground. "The idea that I would come to Normandy and not make the short trip here to pay tribute," he added as his voice trailed off as if to express disbelief.
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