The sapling was a gift from Macron on the occasion of his state visit.
News photographers snapped away Monday when Trump and Macron shoveled dirt onto the tree during a ceremonial planting on the South Lawn. By the end of the week, the tree was gone from the lawn. A pale patch of grass was left in its place.
The White House hasn’t offered an explanation.
The oak sprouted at a World War I battle site that became part of U.S. Marine Corps legend.
About 2,000 U.S. troops died in the June 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood, fighting a German offensive.
Don’t have the link but apparently the tree has to be isolated for a time to ensure no invasive species or plant diseases are present. If all’s well it will be replanted.
And pretending to plant it was the best plan they could think of? JFC you go down to Kinko’s and get some historical photos printed on foamboard for 20 bucks a pop, explain the significance of the damn tree, the great friendship through the ages blah blah, and make a nice little presentation out of it and then send the tree to quarantine. Instead this ignorant-ass administration just fakes it. Sooooo typical. There’s not a competent media relations person in this country who couldn’t have come up with a more sensible plan than that.
Maybe Barron’s dog dug it up?
I’m OK with this. The symbolic act of planting an oak together is meaningful. Complicating it with caveats about health checks would have undermined that.
You’d think that a professionally staffed White House would be able to issue that information—if true–in order to avoid international embarrassment, offense to France, insult to President Macron.