Trump Leaves World War Commemorations Isolated Among Allies

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Stoltenberg says he welcomes stronger European efforts on defense as long as they’re "within the NATO framework."Source: Bloomberg

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By Marc Champion

November 11, 2018 at 8:13 PM UTC

Updated on

November 12, 2018 at 12:42 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

For U.S. President Donald Trump, attending a French-run ceremony to commemorate World War I, a bloodletting that highlighted the value of allies and dangers of nationalism, was never going to be easy. By the time he flew home on Sunday he appeared isolated and, by some, scorned.

Trump arrived fresh off midterm elections where his party lost control of the House of Representatives even as he kept control of the Senate. A Twitter storm over his failure on Saturday to attend a commemoration service of Marines who died a century ago on the battlefields of France is unlikely to affect him domestically, with his backers and opponents already well entrenched.