France's army appears to troll Trump for missing a WWI memorial due to rain

Associated Press / French Army

France's army looking to make a statement?

• France's army on Monday appeared to make fun of President Donald Trump for missing a memorial service on the 100th anniversary of the end of end of World War I due to rain.
• The French army's Twitter page made a rare entry into the English-language #MondayMotivation hashtag to say they weren't bothered by a little rain.
• Trump drew widespread criticism for missing the memorial service with many people doubting the White House's official reason why. 

France's army on Monday appeared to make fun of President Donald Trump for missing a memorial service on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with a picture of its soldiers training in the rain and some commentary on motivation.

Using the hashtag #MondayMotivation in a rare entry that uses an English-language Twitter meme in what's normally a straight-laced, French-language Twitter feed, the French army took time on Monday to say how the rain doesn't bother them. 

"There is rain, but it does not matter... We remain motivated," a translation of the page's tweet reads.

Read more: White House says Trump missed a WWI memorial service because he didn't want to mess up Paris' traffic

Over the weekend, Trump drew wide criticism for missing a trip to Ainse-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, where French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders participated in remembrance events.

Trump's planned trip to the memorial was "canceled due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather," according to the White House. The White House said the weather had caused visibility issues that would preclude Trump taking his helicopter to the site. 

Later, the White House said that they didn't want to send the presidential motorcade, as it would disrupt Paris's traffic. 

Canadian President Justin Trudeau's speech at the memorial included a reference to the rain: "As we sit here in the rain, thinking how uncomfortable we must be these minutes as our suits get wet and our hair gets wet and our shoes get wet, I think it's all the more fitting that we remember on that day, in Dieppe, the rain wasn't rain, it was bullets."

Read more: 'We have a Napoleon in the making': Lawmakers rain on Trump's military-parade idea.

On Twitter, former presidential staffers expressed disbelief that Trump couldn't attend the memorial, which was a key cause for his trip to Paris. Ben Rhodes, a top staffer for former President Barack Obama, said there was "always" a back up bad-weather plan on presidential trips.

The graveyard and memorial Trump was scheduled to attend contains nearly 2,300 graves for soldiers who fought in the surrounding areas in the summer of 1918.

On Monday, Paris was mostly cloudy with scattered showers.