PARIS: French and American presidents marked France’s national day together on Friday at a military parade which clearly delighted Donald Trump and showcased warming relations between the two leaders.

But the day was tinged with mourning, coming a year on from a militant massacre that claimed 86 lives in the southern city of Nice, where President Emmanuel Macron headed after the Paris parade.

Trump was Macron’s guest of honour at the Bastille Day celebration in the French capital as this year marked the centenary of the United States entering World War I.

The parade featured French and American troops marching down the fabled Champs-Elysees and the traditional flypast of French jets, this year followed by the US aerobatic team along with two F-22 stealth fighters.

US troops dressed in the brown uniform and gaiters of the Great War were among the 3,720 soldiers in the parade.

“Nothing will ever separate us,” the 39-year-old Macron said from the reviewing stand, adding that Trump’s presence by his side was “the sign of a friendship across the ages” between their countries.

“Today our two countries stand taller — and more united — than ever,” Trump, 71, said in a statement issued by the White House after his departure, which featured another muscular handshake between the men lasting a full 25 seconds.

Macron rolled out the red carpet for Trump’s visit in the hope of improving relations and persuade the US president to change his mind about withdrawing from the global Paris agreement on climate change.

Trump said cryptically after their talks on Thursday that “something could happen with respect to the Paris accord... but we will talk about that over the coming period of time.”

Trump had appeared isolated at a meeting of world leaders last weekend in Germany over his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris global climate change agreement and his protectionist stance on trade.

The two men enjoyed a “dinner between friends” on Thursday at a Michelin-starred restaurant on the Eiffel Tower.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017