This year\u2019s military parade also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the United States\u2019 entry into World War I.<\/b>
\nPARIS \u2014 President Trump was guest of honor at the opulent Bastille Day celebrations in the French capital on Friday, as he wrapped up his first trip to the country as U. S. leader exactly a year after a deadly terror attack in the southern city of Nice killed 86 people and wounded hundreds.
This year\u2019s ornate Bastille Day parade on the capital\u2019s famous Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es avenue included U. S. soldiers marching with their French counterparts to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States\u2019 entry into World War I.
Dozens of military planes and helicopters flew over the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es as military bands played traditional French marching music. One band spelled out the word \u00ab\u00a0NICE\u00a0\u00bb in front of the leaders and also played a rendition of ‘Get Lucky, ‘ the 2013 hit by French electronic music duo Daft Punk.
\u00ab\u00a0It was a great honor to represent the United States at the magnificent #BastilleDay parade. Congratulations President @EmmanuelMacron!\u00a0\u00bb Trump tweeted.
There was heightened security around the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es and the nearby Place de la Concorde after the area was repeatedly targeted by Islamist extremists. Last month, an attacker died when he rammed his explosives-laden car into a police convoy on the avenue.
After the Paris parade, the U. S. motorcade headed to the airport for Air Force One’s departure. France’s 39-year-old president, Emmanuel Macron, will travel to Nice, where an Islamist terrorist plowed a truck into a crowd on the Promenade des Anglais after a Bastille Day fireworks display a year ago.
France\u2019s interior ministry said more than 130,000 security personnel and emergency service workers will protect people around the country during the celebrations, a national holiday in France.
Trump, 71, arrived in Paris on Thursday amid colorful pageantry for a two-day visit, and held meetings with Macron, met with U. S. embassy staff and U. S. service members and dined at the Eiffel Tower.
\u201cGreat evening with President @EmmanuelMacron & Mrs. Macron. Went to Eiffel Tower for dinner. Relationship with France stronger than ever, \u201d Trump tweeted with a photo of the two leaders and their wives at the famous Paris landmark early Friday.
Trump pledged Thursday that the United States would work to protect the environment, despite withdrawing from the Paris Climate Change Agreement that was signed by nearly 200 nations.
\u00ab\u00a0Our fates are tied together more so than ever, \u00a0\u00bb Trump said at a news conference following a meeting with Macron, one of his harshest critics for backing out of the Paris accord on June 1.
Macron said while the leaders have a \u00ab\u00a0number of disagreements\u00a0\u00bb on the threat of global warming, he respected Trump’s decision to pull the U. S. out of the agreement.
Macron said Thursday that he and Trump would work on a \u00ab\u00a0joint roadmap\u00a0\u00bb to fight terrorism and post-war initiatives for Syria.
Trump also defended his son\u2019s meeting with a Russian lawyer whom he believed had incriminating information on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election. \u00ab\u00a0Most people would have taken that meeting, \u00a0\u00bb Trump said.
\u00ab\u00a0It’s called opposition research, \u00a0\u00bb Trump added. \u00ab\u00a0Politics is not the nicest business in the world.\u00a0\u00bb
When asked about negative comments Trump previously made that \u00ab\u00a0Paris no longer looks like Paris\u00a0\u00bb in light of an influx of migrants and a spate of terrorist attacks, the U. S. president changed his tune.
\u00ab\u00a0You have a tough president. I really have a feeling you will have a peaceful and beautiful Paris, \u00a0\u00bb Trump said. \u00ab\u00a0And I’m coming back.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0You are always welcome, \u00a0\u00bb Macron replied.
Still, not all were welcoming Trump in Paris. A few hundred protesters gathered Thursday at Place de la Republique to create \u00ab\u00a0No Trump Zones.\u00a0\u00bb
Maya Correas, 50, of Paris, said she is firmly against the U. S. leader’s policies, including pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.
\u00ab\u00a0I don’t understand why an American president has to come here for what are essentially French celebrations, \u00a0\u00bb she said.
Bastille Day marks the storming of the Bastille fortress that held political prisoners in 1789, which led to the French Revolution.
Still, some thought the invitation to Trump was a smart move on Macron’s part.
\u00ab\u00a0I think on Macron\u2019s part there was willingness to break with his predecessors, \u00a0\u00bb said Eddy Fougier, a political scientist with the Paris-based French Institute of International and Strategic Affairs, referring to the shunning by previous French presidents of leaders they were deeply critical of.
\u00ab\u00a0Macron\u2019s pragmatism can explain the decision to invite Donald Trump. Macron thinks that by having a dialogue with Donald Trump he may be able to convince him, for example, about the Paris climate agreement or other topics, \u00a0\u00bb Fougier said.
Contributing: David Jackson in Washington. Bhatti reported from Paris, Onyanga-Omara reported from London.
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