特朗普總統前往巴黎參加一戰停戰紀念活動

U.S. President Donald Trump departs early Friday for his trip to France where he and dozens of other world leaders will mark the centenary of the Armistice, which brought an end to the fighting in World War I.

His trip comes as relations between the United States and many of its allies remain tense. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the geopolitical climate is reminiscent of the buildup to the world wars.

Touring wartime battlefields in the east and north of France this week ahead of Sunday's Armistice cereMonies, President Macron warned of ongoing threats to Europe, saying the continent must create its own army.

“We need to protect ourselves from China, from Russia and even the United States. When I see President Trump announcing a pullout from a big disarmament treaty that was taken in the middle of the 1980s in the middle of the missile crisis which had affected Europe, who is going to be the main victim? Europe and its security,” Macron told France's Europe 1 radio station.

French officials said relations with the U.S. would be unaffected by President Trump's Republican Party losing control of the House of Representatives in the recent midterm elections.

The U.S. president will hold talks with Macron Saturday. It's not clear whether a rumored meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will go ahead.

Donald Trump will later visit Belleau Wood, scene of one of the most ferocious battles fought by U.S. troops in the war. More than 1,800 American soldiers were killed as they attacked German positions. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand combat. After more than three weeks of fighting, American troops took Belleau Wood on June 26, 1918. Historian Jean-Michel Steg says the bravery of U.S. Marines is legendary.

By the end of the war, more than 116,000 American troops had died defending Europe. More than 14,000 are buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest on the continent.

“Relations between these powers, they're not always easy. And there are reasons for that. But when you get out here, where the people in these villages remember, there's a great respect for the American soldier.”

The nearby "Romagne 14-18" museum depicts life for soldiers on the frontline using thousands of items recovered from the battlefields, most of them by founder Jean-Paul de Vries. His grandfather fought for four years on the front lines.

“What I try to show in this museum to the visitors is if you take off these helmets, it's all the same. It's all human beings,” he told VOA.

Forty million people were killed on all sides during the conflict. They will be remembered Sunday at the Armistice Day ceremony at Paris' Arc de Triomphe, attended by dozens of world leaders.

President Trump will later take part in a separate Veteran's Day ceremony at an American cemetery.美國總統特朗普週五一早前往法國，跟幾十名世界其他領導人一道出席紀念第一次世界大戰停戰100週年的活動。

特朗普此行正值美國跟許多盟友的關係緊張之際。法國總統馬克龍警告說，地緣政治氣氛讓人聯想起世界大戰之前的情景。

在出席星期天（11月11日）的紀念活動之前，馬克龍巡視法國一戰時期的東部和北部戰場，他警告歐洲目前面臨的威脅時說，歐洲大陸必須創建自己的軍隊。

馬克龍對法國的歐洲第一廣播電臺說：“我們需要自我防衛免受來自中國、俄羅斯，甚至美國的侵害。特朗普總統宣佈退出80年代導彈危機期間的一項條約，誰會是主要的受害者？是歐洲和歐洲的安全，因爲導彈危機影響了歐洲。”

法國官員說，特朗普總統的共和黨在美國中期選舉中失去了對國會衆議院的控制，不會影響到法國跟美國的關係。

特朗普總統星期六（11月10日）跟馬克龍會談。目前不清楚特朗普總統會跟俄羅斯總統普京見面的傳言是否屬實。

之後特朗普將訪問貝勒森林，那裏是一戰期間美軍最慘烈的戰場之一。當時有1800多名美國軍人在攻打德軍陣地時陣亡。當時多數戰鬥都是肉搏戰。經過三個多星期的戰鬥，美軍在1918年6月26日攻佔了貝勒森林。歷史學家Jean-Michel Steg說，美國海軍陸戰隊的勇猛是出了名的。

一戰結束時，有11萬6千多美國軍人爲了保衛歐洲而犧牲。其中1萬4千多人長眠於阿戈納森林美國人公墓，那是歐洲最大的公墓。

第一次世界大戰衝突導致參戰各方共有4000萬人喪生。星期天在巴黎凱旋門舉行的停戰日紀念，他們將受到緬懷。

特朗普總統之後將參加在一處美國公墓舉行的另外一場美國退伍軍人節的紀念活動。