Trump condemned for cancelling France cemetery visit due to weather
Video report by ITV News Europe editor James Mates
Donald Trump has come under fire for cancelling a visit to a cemetery in France due to rain.
The US president was due to visit Belleau to pay respects to American soldiers killed during the First World War.
However, the White House cancelled the trip because of bad weather which grounded the presidential helicopter that was due to fly him to the cemetery about a two-hour drive east of Paris.
The president sent a delegation that included chief of staff John Kelly instead.
Conservative MP and defence minister Tobias Ellwood tweeted he was "sorry to read" the news of Trump's cancellation, saying rain was a "regular feature on the Western Front" which didn't prevent soldiers from doing their job.
And David Frum, once a speechwriter for President George W Bush, tweeted that he thought it was “incredible” that a president would not pay respects to the US servicemen who died in France during the First World War.
Mr Trump is due to visit a different cemetery on Sunday.
Meanwhile one appointment Trump did attend was a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, in which the two sought to ease tensions over comments that threatened to cast a shadow over a weekend marking 100 years since the end of World War One.
The American and French leaders, who have had somewhat of an up-and-down relationship, worked to project unity of opinion over whether Europe should create an army of its own.
Trump said comments by the French president were "insulting" - but President Macron’s office said the US leader misunderstood the comments.
Mr Macron said in an interview earlier this week that Europe needs to protect itself against “China, Russia and even the United States” in terms of cyberspace.
The leaders met at the Elysee Palace and, asked about the tweet, President Trump said President Macron “understands that the United States can only do so much”, adding that the US wants to help.
President Trump added that he and President Macron are “getting along from the standpoint of fairness”.