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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. | 
