A small European oak tree that French President Emmanuel Macron gifted to US President Donald Trump has withered and died.
The tree was planted on the White House lawn by the two leaders while Macron was visiting the US on a state visit in April 2018.
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But the tree, which originated from Belleau Wood near Paris, was removed a short time later to be quarantined.
At the time the French ambassador to the US said the quarantine was mandatory for any organism brought to the US, and it would be replanted later.
But the Agence France-Presse reports the tree died during its stay in quarantine.
The tree had been intended to symbolise the friendship between the two nations, but reports say the two presidents' friendship is as dead as the tree.
Trump and Macron have disagreed on issues such as foreign policy and climate change, with the US removing itself from the Paris Climate Agreement after Trump became president.
Macron's tree-planting visit had been to try and convince Trump not to leave the Iran nuclear deal, a key achievement of the Obama administration.
Trump pulled out of the deal in May 2018.
French newspaper Le Monde called the tree a "metaphor for a relationship that isn’t what it was", while The Guardian said "just like the Macron-Trump love-in, [the tree] is no more".
Newshub.
