A different kind of D-Day, laden with anxiety among old allies

Boston Globe

a day ago

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'The enemy underestimated the strength of the Allied war cause,' he said from a podium before a modest international crowd and about two dozen American World War II veterans, most around 100 years old, watching from wheelchairs nearby.
'Without the sacrifices of American, French, British and other Allied powers, we would not have a free world
,"
he said.
To many, the speech came as a relief. But still, there was an elephant on the perfectly kept cemetery lawn.
D-Day is typically a time to commemorate sacrifice and unity among Allied countries fighting for freedom and liberty against the authoritarianism and tyranny of Nazi Germany.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukraine's resistance has become a central part of the ceremonies as a strong echo from the past. Last year, President Biden vowed that America would not 'walk away' from the fight, defending a Ukraine that had been 'invaded by a tyrant bent on domination.'
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'Were we to do that, it means we'd be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches,' he said. 'Make no mistake: We will not bow down. We will not forget.'
However, the Trump administration has a very different view of its allies and the Russian invasion.
President Trump has said the European Union was created to 'screw the United States' and is threatening it with 50 percent tariffs. He has blamed Ukraine for a war that Russia started.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, during a visit to the Oval Office, reminded Trump of the anniversary of D-Day and pressed him to use American power to force Russia's retreat. Trump responded by comparing the war to two fighting children in a hockey game, when the referee lets them 'go for a little while before you pull them apart.'
Hegseth has similarly shown little interest in supporting Ukraine against its Russian invader. On his last trip to Europe, he announced that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was 'an unrealistic objective' and ruled out NATO membership for Kyiv.
Almost immediately after being sworn into the job, Hegseth dumped America's leadership of the Contact Group — a collection of more than 50 nations to coordinate shipments of military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv. He didn't show up to the group's latest meeting this week.
Then, there were his comments on a Signal chat group, created before the American military attack on Houthi militia in Yemen and inadvertently shared with a journalist from The Atlantic.
It all cast a shadow on the annual D-Day ceremony — making an event meant to celebrate friendship and shared values feel, as Denis Peschanski, a French historian, put it, 'less comfortable.'
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'There was no contradiction between the democratic values upheld by the Biden administration and the historical sacrifice of these Americans, as well as these British, these Canadians, well, all those who landed, and the French who were fighting in the Resistance also for the success of this landing,' said Peschanski, who was in charge of the 80th anniversary's scientific advisory board. It was 'obvious' that this year's commemoration would feel awkward without those shared values, he said.
The celebration of what Hegseth called the 'greatest amphibious assault in the history of mankind' was more muted than last year. But that had nothing to do with American foreign policy — 81 isn't considered as auspicious as 80, and off-round number years rarely draw huge crowds or heads of state.
Still, American and Canadian flags fluttered from hedges, World War II enthusiasts screeched along the narrow roads in vintage jeeps, and ceremonies were planned throughout the 50-mile ribbon of beaches and cliffs.
No mention of American aggression was made by French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, either. Instead, he thanked the veterans, saying they embodied the 'unique friendship between our two countries.'
To some, Hegseth's criticism of Europe was not entirely off-point, if only because its spine has yet to stiffen sufficiently. 'The problem is, he is right. The EU is pathetic,' said Gérard Araud, former French ambassador to Washington, referring to Hegseth's text. 'In face of US hostility from JD Vance and Trump himself and then Hegseth, there is no appetite for retaliation or responding. They are totally terrified at the prospect of the US dumping Ukraine.'
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Though European countries are committed to continuing to materially and financially help Ukraine maintain its opposition, most believe American support — particularly in intelligence — is essential.
So, Araud said of Hegseth, 'everything will be done by the French to seduce him, to try and convince him we are serious on defense and we are working with the Americans and basically, please stay.'