For President Donald Trump, attending a ceremony in France to commemorate the end of a war that showed value of allies and dangers of nationalism, was never going to be easy. By the time he flew home Sunday he appeared isolated and, by some, scorned.
Trump arrived fresh off midterm elections in which his party lost control of the House of Representatives even as it kept control of the Senate. Criticism of his decision Saturday not to attend a service for 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.
Abroad, though, the equivalent of any modern U.S. president's base �� the network of alliances built up through two world wars and beyond �� appears more fragile. That's a risk for a leader who may need their cooperation as he confronts China in a trade war and Iran over its foreign and nuclear policies.
The weekend exposed tensions with U.S. allies in Europe over Trump's decision to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, which has kept the continent free of theater-range nuclear missiles for more than 30 years.
It also underlined growing concerns over the reliability of U.S. security guarantees under Trump, and his wider commitment to a postwar international order the U.S. was largely responsible for building and has benefited from, including economically.
In Asia, Trump's decision not to attend a two annual Asia summits this month �� the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Papua New Guinea and East Asia meeting in Singapore �� raises questions about U.S. reliability among allies there. Vice President Mike Pence will attend the meetings in Trump's place.
French President Emmanuel Macron peppered the field with diplomatic land mines before Trump arrived in Paris, staging the weekend's ceremonies to promote his own liberal and internationalist view of how the world should respond to the wave of nationalism sweeping the U.S. and parts of Europe.
Even before the 60-plus heads of state and government arrived, Macron criticized Trump over the INF treaty withdrawal. He repeated his calls for a "true European army'' as part of a drive for greater continental autonomy to defend against China, Russia �� and an increasingly unreliable U.S. Trump. moments after landing in Paris, described the comment as "insulting.''
The two leaders appeared to make up as the weekend began. But Sunday, at the main ceremony to mark the signing of the World War I armistice 100 years ago, Macron again appeared to have Trump in his sights as he attacked nationalism.
"France was shown as the bearer of universal values during these dark hours, as the very opposite of a selfish nation that only looks after its own interest," Macron said, using language that seemed to target Trump's "America First" policies. Macron stood beside German Chancellor Angela Merkel as he spoke. "Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,' he said'
The French leader also convened a "Paris Peace Forum" as part of the weekend's ceremonies, drawing international organizations and nonprofits to discuss how to strengthen global governance.
Merkel, a fellow champion of liberal internationalist ideas, addressed the forum Sunday, taking up some of the same themes.
"I want to speak of my concerns that are mixed in with today's commemoration, the concern that national blinders are spreading again, that actions are taken as if to simply ignore our mutual dependencies, relationships and binding ties,'' Merkel said. She went on to wonder if the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights could be adopted today. "I fear not," she said.
Other leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan were in the audience to hear Merkel. Trump didn't attend, and left Paris on Air Force One shortly after the forum began.
While Merkel and Macron are pushing back on "America First," Trump has a growing number of like-minded allies among Europe's leaders, including in Hungary, Italy and Poland, but they're as yet too few to set European policy. And he's also seemed more comfortable with Putin at international gatherings.
Efforts to have the two sit next to each other at lunch on Sunday came to nothing, when the Elysee Palace changed the seating order, according to a Russian official. Trump sat across the table from Putin, who instead talked to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the spokesman said. The Elysee denied any switch in seating arrangements. Putin and Trump are expected to meet at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina this month.
Putin praised Macron's drive for a more unified European military, pointing out that it isn't new. But the idea has gained momentum since the U.K. �� always an opponent �� voted to leave the European Union, and Trump's election began to sow doubts about U.S. reliability. A stronger European military would take a step toward building the "multipolar'' order for which Russia has long argued, Putin said. That's a model Moscow believes would dilute the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Speaking on Bloomberg Television Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed concerns over Trump's commitment to the Western alliance, despite his light footprint at the weekend's ceremonies.
"What's important is that he participated in the ceremony and at the dinner and at the lunch, and that he spoke to a great many heads of state and government," said Stoltenberg. "Peace and security in Europe depend on the U.S., and he knows that."
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(Ilya Arkhipov, Gregory Viscusi, Annmarie Hordern, Justin Sink, Shannon Pettypiece, Nick Wadhams, Helene Fouquet, Patrick Donahue, Gregory L. White and Alan Crawford contributed to this report.)
