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11th Nov 2018

Donald Trump bombarded with pictures of Obama in the rain after WW1 cemetery no-show

'This is a real leader'

Oli Dugmore

ARLINGTON, VA - SEPTEMBER 11: In the driving rain, U.S. President Barack Obama salutes to family members of victims of the 9/11 attack during a rememberance ceremony at the Pentagon September 11, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia. Obama joined staff and family members at the Pentagon to comemorate the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

‘This is a real leader’

Donald Trump did not fulfil a scheduled visit to a First World War cemetery because of the rain.

Bad weather grounded the presidential helicopter and security concerns about a quickly organised motorcade for the two-hour drive out of Paris meant other senior officials were sent on the visit.

Criticism of the president of the United States has intensified since, with British MPs joining the clamour.

Trump is currently in France for the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09:  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on November 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump is traveling to France to attend ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.  (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After meeting Emmanuel Macron, Trump was due to travel to travel to Belleau Wood, a battlefield where US troops made a key breakthrough against a German advance trying to enter Paris.

It was this battle which is said to have proven to Allied troops that the Americans – fresh to the war efforts after entering it in 1917 – were capable of fighting alongside them.

The battle has become a key piece of lore for the US Marine Corps, and is presumably something that a US president would be keen to commemorate with a visit. Unless it is raining of course, in which case it’s a real no-go.

That was the case for Trump, who rather than visit the battlefield, opted instead to send Chief of Staff General John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford in his stead, citing “scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather.”

So, Twitter is now peppering the president of the United States with pictures of his predecessor Barack Obama, in the rain.

Talking in the rain, walking in the rain, applauding in the rain, laying wreaths in the rain.

Just doing rain things.

Nothing about his penchant for drone strikes though.