Donald Trump on Notre Dame: US president's 'flying water tankers' would have destroyed cathedral, officials say

James Morris16 April 2019

Donald Trump’s airborne masterplan to extinguish the Notre Dame fire would have potentially destroyed the entire cathedral, French authorities have said.

As flames tore through the iconic building, the US president tweeted that “perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out”.

But France’s civil defence agency hit back at the suggestion, saying it could have made the entire building fall apart.

“Hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control,” it tweeted.

“All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”

The main structure was ultimately saved by firefighters on the ground.

Mr Trump, who faced ridicule all over the world for his comments, later said of the cathedral at a news conference: “It’s one of the great treasures of the world… probably if you think about it, I would say it might be, er, greater than almost any museum in the world.

Paris Fire Brigade tackle Notre Dame Cathedral fire - in pictures

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"And it’s burning very badly.”

He added: “At this moment they don’t know, but they think it was caused by renovation. I hope that's, er, the reason. Renovation, what's that all about?”

On Tuesday afternoon, France's culture minister Franck Riester said the "most precious treasures" of Notre Dame have been saved after the devastating fire, including the crown of thorns Catholic relic and the tunic of Saint Louis.

The French Bishops' Conference also said the bells of all cathedrals across the country would ring on Wednesday at 6.50pm local time, the time when the fire started on Monday in Paris.

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