TURKEY: White House defends Trump WW1 no-show

The White House has defended US President Donald Trump’s decision to miss a memorial event on Saturday after he faced a backlash. Mr Trump, who was in France to mark the centenary of World War One’s end, cancelled a visit to a US military cemetery amid heavy rain. Bad weather and “near-zero visibility” grounded the […]

The White House has defended US President Donald Trump’s decision to miss a memorial event on Saturday after he faced a backlash.

Mr Trump, who was in France to mark the centenary of World War One’s end, cancelled a visit to a US military cemetery amid heavy rain.

Bad weather and “near-zero visibility” grounded the presidential helicopter.

Mr Trump was reluctant to bring extra Paris traffic for a last-minute motorcade, officials said.

“President Trump did not want to cause that kind of unexpected disruption to the city and its people,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said, noting the trip was 60 miles (96km) north-east of Paris.

Mr Trump spent much of Saturday at the American ambassador’s residence, and visited another US cemetery in a Paris suburb on Sunday.