A sapling planted by the French and US presidents on the White House lawn, meant to symbolize friendship between the two nations, has died. It had been living in US quarantine for the last year.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
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The small European oak tree that French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump planted on the White House lawn last year has withered and died.
The oak originally sprouted at the site of the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood in northern France, where about 2,000 US troops died fighting the Germans in 1918.
Trump, Macron meet at the White House
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Tree died while in quarantine
However, US media noted soon after it was planted last year that the tree had disappeared. It later emerged the tree had been removed and taken into quarantine, to avoid introducing any European blight or parasites. The quarantine is mandatory for any living organism imported to the US.
Now French media have revealed that the tree died while in quarantine, where it was intended to live in US custody for two years before being replanted back on the White House lawn.
The tree's demise has been used as a metaphor by French outlets for the deteriorating relations between the US and Europe.
When the two leaders appeared alongside each other in Normandy last week to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, Macron spoke in favor of multilateralism, subtly beseeching the US leader to pursue international cohesion.
Politicians planting trees
From German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Syrian President Bashar Assad, planting trees has been a way for leaders to mark new beginnings or commemorate past events. DW looks at some significant tree-planting moments.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/J. Watson
'Make our planet great again'
Politicians have often planted trees to symbolize reconciling differences. While US President Donald Trump has refused to accept the negative impact of climate change, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for more efforts to combat the phenomenon. By planting a tree together, perhaps Macron was hoping to reconcile his differences with Trump and "make our planet great again."
Image: AFP/Getty Images/J. Watson
New beginnings
North and South Korea have officially been at war since 1950. This photograph shows the first time a North Korean leader has stepped onto South Korean soil. To mark the event, North Korea's Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in planted a tree as a sign of a new beginning. Hours after planting it, both sides vowed to end the Korean War.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/Korea Summit Press Pool
Apple doesn't fall far from the tree
But Kim Jong Un isn't the first North Korean leader to make an event out of planting trees. His father, the late Kim Jong Il (pictured above), once planted a tree with a North Korean soldier while visiting an army unit. It goes to show that even planting trees can be used as propaganda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Korea News Service
Roots run deep
From the outset of her political career, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was planting trees. To mark the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of Mecklenburg in 1995, Merkel planted the first of 1,000 trees while serving as the youngest minister in the late Helmut Kohl's government. Since then, she's never looked back.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Tilling the soil
In 2008, Merkel planted a tree alongside other political leaders for the G8 summit in Toyako, Japan. Her counterparts included former US President George W. Bush, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. It marked her third G8 summit after becoming chancellor in 2005.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Brakemeier
Some thrive, others wither
Merkel returned to Japan in 2016 for G7 meeting. She managed to be the only political leader who was still in office since she planted a tree in 2008. But she didn't let that stop her from planting a tree with former US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Italy's ex-premier Matteo Renzi.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
Turning over a new leaf
In 2014, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the UK and US expelled Russia from the G8 due to its military intervention and subsequent annexation of Crimea in Ukraine. But that year, Russian President Vladimir Putin planted a tree in Beijing, China during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. For some, it meant turning over a new leaf.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Druginyn
Failing to bear fruit
A year before war broke out in Syria, President Bashar Assad planted a tree with the late Saudi King Andullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in Beirut, Lebanon. The move was unprecedented and aimed at easing tensions in the region. Since then, Damascus and Riyadh have supported opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Dalati & Nohra
A sign of peace
In 2014, former Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Pope Francis. They planted an olive tree together, a species that has come to symbolize peace. "Peace making calls for courage, much more so than warfare," Francis told Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/A. Cohen
The tree planter
The UK's Queen Elizabeth II has planted dozens of trees throughout her lifetime. During her 1951 visit to Vancouver, when she was still a princess, she planted a tree to commemorate her visit to the city's Arboretum. For the queen, planting trees has been a way of honoring people, places and events.
