Donald Trump plans to spend this weekend in Paris to participate in the annual Armistice Day celebrated to commemorate the end of WWI. France holds this program every year on Bastille Day and the US President attended it last year. The parade impressed him and he wanted to have a similar one in Washington. However, The Pentagon called it off citing enormously high costs and Trump decided to travel to Paris.

Daily Mail UK reports that the losses suffered by the Republicans in the mid-term election might have been another factor in this decision.

First lady Melania Trump will accompany him. He had plans to go to Ireland from France to enjoy some golf but will return to Washington and get back to his routine before the traditional Thanksgiving break.

Trump’s interaction with world leaders

Europe identifies Nov. 11 as Armistice Day while America refers to it as the Veterans Day and the federal government recognizes it as a holiday. Donald Trump will be in Paris on that day and will deliver the traditional Veterans Day remarks at Suresnes, according to the White House.

While in France, the president will visit two cemeteries. One of these is for American soldiers at the Belleau Wood battlefield and the other is the Suresnes American Cemetery.

As to meetings with world leaders, there is only one bilateral meeting on the agenda. It will be with President Emmanuel Macron. Russian president Vladimir Putin will also be attending the Armistice Day program but there is no official Trump-Putin meeting on the anvil.

The two leaders might engage in informal talks. The US President has told reporters traveling with him that the next meeting with Putin will possibly be in Buenos Aires at the G20.

The US President will skip Paris Peace Forum

French President Emmanuel Macron is the organizer of the Paris Peace Forum that wants to ensure a unity of thought among world leaders.

The aim of the forum is to eliminate any chance of the miscalculations that resulted in WWI of 1914-18. The lessons of the past must be borne in mind and the intention of leaders should be to go in for “more collective decision-making in the 21st century.” According to Telegraph UK, Donald Trump will not remain for the forum, scheduled after the Armistice Day programs, but Vladimir Putin will.

A Trump-Macron meeting is on the cards and the US President will attend a dinner for visiting heads of state and government in Paris. The Telegraph UK adds that Donald Trump prefers one-on-one meetings, as does his national security adviser, John Bolton.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED