President-elect Trump announced Monday that he would attend the reopening next weekend of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was an honor to be invited to Paris to attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral has been completely restored following a fire five years earlier.
He added, “President Emmanuel Macron did a wonderful job ensuring Notre Dame was restored to its full glory and more. It will be an unforgettable day for everyone!”
The cathedral’s spire and roof latticework collapsed in the spring of 2019. Trump, the president at the moment, lamented the fire in Minnesota.
Trump called the cathedral “one of the greatest treasures in the world”. If you stop to think about it, it could be bigger than any museum on the planet. It’s burning badly. “It looks like the whole thing is on fire.”
Trump commented on the social media fire at the time by suggesting that “flying tankers” could be used to extinguish it.
The French government rejected the suggestion of the then-president to use flying water tanks to combat the Notre Dame Fire. Securite Civile’s social media account, which is France’s civil defense and crisis management agency for civil defense, stated that “firemen from the Paris Fire Brigade” were doing their best to control the #NotreDame blaze.
The agency said at the time that “all means are being used except water-bombing planes, which if used could lead to collapse of the whole structure of the Cathedral.”
According to the website of Notre Dame Cathedral, there will be reopening celebrations next Saturday and Sunday.
The website of the cathedral states that “the reopening ceremony will start on December 7-8 2024. Thereafter, an octave event until December 15” will follow.