Cemetery visit will close out Biden trip to France that’s served as a rebuke to Trump

PARIS — President Joe Biden will close his trip to France by paying his respects at an American military cemetery that Donald Trump did not visit when he was president, hoping that his final stop on Sunday will draw bets from the November elections in marked relief.

It’s a fitting end to five days in which Trump was an unspoken but inevitable presence. At first glance, the trip marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day and celebrated the alliance between the United States and France. But during an election year in which Trump has called into question fundamental understandings about America’s global role, Biden has embraced his Republican predecessor (and potential successor) as a latent foil.

Every ode to the transatlantic partnership It was a reminder that Trump could upset those relationships. Every reference to democracy It represented a counterpoint to his rival’s efforts to overturn a presidential election. The countless exhortations to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia created a contrast with Trump’s skepticism about providing American assistance.

Biden’s praise of the fight between democracy and autocracy drew applause in Europe, where the prospect of a return to Trump’s turbulent reign has caused much anxiety. But it remains to be seen how the message will resonate with American voters, as Biden’s campaign struggles to connect the dire warnings the Democratic president so often makes about his rival with people’s everyday concerns.

Biden will cap his visit to France by once again underscoring the contrast, as he pays tribute to America’s war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. Located about an hour’s drive northwest of Paris, the cemetery is the final resting place of more than 2,000 American soldiers who fought in World War I.

During a trip to France in 2018, Trump skipped his plans to go to the cemetery, a decision that the White House blame the weather At the time. However, subsequent reports He said Trump told aides he didn’t want to go because he viewed dead soldiers as “suckers” and “losers.” Trump has denied the comments, although they were later corroborated by his then-chief of staff, John Kelly.

Trump’s alleged insults have become a regular feature of Biden’s campaign speeches, even during an April demonstration in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

“These soldiers were heroes, like all Americans who have served this nation,” Biden said. “Believing otherwise, that alone disqualifies someone from running for this office.”

Maura Sullivan, a former Marine Corps officer who served on the American Battle Monuments Commission under President Barack Obama, said Biden’s visit would “lead by example and do what a president should do.” Sullivan, now an official with the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said “voters can draw their own conclusions” from that.

Biden’s trip was filled with emotional moments, and the president’s eyes filled with tears after meeting with World War II veterans. A 21-gun salute cast eerie smoke over 9,388 white marble tombstones at the Normandy American Cemetery.

“This has been the most extraordinary trip I have ever taken,” Biden said Saturday night, his last in Paris before returning to the US.

His statements in recent days were also loaded with political connotations.

At Normandy anniversary ceremonies Thursday, Biden said D-Day served as a reminder that alliances make America stronger, calling it “a lesson I pray Americans will never forget.” He also highlighted how the war effort brought in immigrants, women and people of color who were too often overlooked by history.

Then, on Friday, he went to Pointe du Hoc, a place on the coast where Army Rangers scaled cliffs to overcome Nazi defenses on D-Day and which was also the site in 1984 of one of President Ronald Reagan’s most memorable speeches. Reagan on the struggles between the two countries. The West and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Following in the footsteps of an iconic Republican, Biden honed his appeal to traditional conservatives who are often frustrated by Trump’s isolationist vision. Biden called on Americans to protect democracy like the Rangers who scaled the cliffs, a message that synchronized with campaign rhetoric portraying his electoral opponent as an existential threat to American values.

While Biden was in France, his campaign announced that it had hired former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s former chief of staff to lead outreach to Republican voters. Kinzinger clashed with Trump’s foreign policy and his efforts to overturn the last presidential election.

At Pointe du Hoc, Biden said the Army Rangers “fought to defeat a hateful ideology in the 1930s and 1940s. Does anyone doubt that they would not move heaven and earth to defeat today’s hateful ideologies?

Trump has argued that the United States needs to devote more attention to its own problems and less to foreign alliances and entanglements. He has also routinely downplayed the importance of American partnerships, suggesting that the United States could abandon its treaty commitments to defend European allies if they do not pay enough for their own defenses.

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian who wrote a book about Pointe du Hoc and Reagan’s speech, said Biden “had big shoes to step into” in choosing the same location.

Biden’s speech “did not match Reagan’s in greatness, nor could it match it,” Brinkley said. Still, he said Biden “said the right words about why democracy is important.”

Paul Begala, a veteran Democratic strategist, said it could help Biden politically “be where Reagan was.”

He noted that Biden is struggling with younger voters, but appears to be gaining traction among older voters, who may be more receptive to reminders of Reagan’s speech four decades ago.

“You need a lot of Reagan Republicans to make up for your challenges with younger voters,” he said.

Biden’s trip was also marked by the pageantry of a state visit to Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, where four fighter jets flew overhead, and hosted a banquet at the Elysee presidential palace.

“United we stand, divided we fall,” Macron said while toasting Biden. “We are allies and we will continue to be allies.”

Overall, Biden’s visit was slower paced than other foreign trips. The 81-year-old president did not hold any public events on his first day in Paris after arriving on a red-eye flight and did not hold a news conference with reporters, as is customary. John Kirby, a national security spokesman, said there was a need to prepare “in advance of major confrontations” in the coming days.

“There’s a lot on the calendar,” he said.

Still, it contrasted with Macron’s tendency to offer prestigious guests an intense agenda with a mix of official meetings, business conversations, cultural events and private dinners at elegant restaurants.

When the 46-year-old French leader hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, the two-day agenda was packed with activities, including a trip to the Pyrenees near the border with Spain, where Macron spent time as a child.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.