Insert your best horticulture-international relations metaphor here. The tree was planted last year as a symbol of the enduring relationship between the two countries.<\/b>
\nIt seemed like a lovely moment of friendship between two leaders who have had their differences, but \u2014 well, it\u2019s gone dead.
When French President Emmanuel Macron visited D. C. in April of last year, he and U. S. President Donald Trump planted a sapling from Belleau Wood, the site of a World War I battle in which more than 1,800 Americans died. It was considered a symbol of the enduring friendship between the two countries, as well as what Politico called the \u201cvery public bromance\u201d between the two presidents.
Well, the tree has died, Agence France-Presse reports.
The tree was taken out of the ground a few days after the two leaders planted it. Then-French Ambassador Gerard Araud said at the time that it was part of a mandatory quarantine for any nonnative organism, in order to protect against diseases and parasites that could run wild because our plants and trees don\u2019t have natural defenses against them.
(And to answer the intuitive question: Araud later added that when the tree was planted, its roots were encased in plastic so it wouldn\u2019t spread anything before being quarantined.)
Insert your best horticulture-international relations metaphor here.
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