President Joe Biden ended his trip to France with a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, the final resting site for thousands of U.S. Marines killed during WWI, an homage former President Donald Trump reportedly dodged during his own overseas trip in 2018.
"Every Marine I know knows about the battle in Belleau Woods. There were over 2,229 buried here, and inside that chapel, there's names of 1,000 missing," Biden said Sunday after a brief wreath laying ceremony, explaining that he and First Lady Jill Biden "just wanted to pay our respects."
Biden said the battle fought in June of 1918, when a brigade of U.S. Marines famously held off five advancing German divisions from marching on Paris, stands as proof that isolationism is a flawed foreign policy.
"The idea that we were able to avoid being engaged in major battles in Europe is just not realistic. That's why it's so important that we continue to have the alliances we have, continue to beef up those alliances, continue to keep NATO strong, continue to do what we've been able to do for the last — since the end of World War Two," the president said.
According to White House pool reports, Biden did not respond when asked if his visit to the cemetery following events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day was meant to stand in contrast to Trump's 2018 trip in honor of the 100th anniversary of the end of the first World War.
Trump, according to reporting by the Atlantic published in 2020, famously skipped the trip due to forecast rain and over concern his hair might become disheveled in the wet weather, after claiming his military helicopter was unable to fly him there and the U.S. Secret Service wouldn't allow a car trip. He later allegedly questioned why he should visit the cemetery, since it was filled with "losers."
Trump's then Chief of Staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, made the visit on his behalf and later confirmed Trump's disparaging remarks.
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