France loves its military theatre. Sometimes to a fault. As the French army learned on Oct. 25, 1415, the pageantry of force is not the same as utility of force. That day, at Agincourt, a majestic force of French nobles faced a smaller, hungry, ill-equipped English army. Unfortunately for the French, its men-at-arms were forced to traverse a muddy field in heavy armor. By the time they reached the English lines, they were exhausted and pressed together, and the English simply hacked them down.

That incident was, of course, far from anyone’s mind on Friday. At the invitation of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, President Trump was given a front-row seat to the greatest of all military theaters: the annual Bastille Day parade through Paris. Trump loved it, too.