--- title: Macron to Send Trump Replacement 'Friendship Tree' description: The oak tree that President Trump and Macron planted in April 2018 and removed soon after it was planted, was confirmed dead by Macron. canonical: https://time.com/5605657/macron-new-friendship-tree-trump/ author: Nadia Suleman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-12T23:05:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:43:49.319Z article:section: Politics og:title: French President Macron Gave President Trump a 'Friendship Tree' Last Year. It Is Now Dead og:description: The tree was planted to symbolize friendship between the U.S. and France og:url: https://time.com/5605657/macron-new-friendship-tree-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73b845fc801c3569/69894b217cdbac57e6d5fa5a/gettyimages-950557282.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Donald J. Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: French President Macron Gave President Trump a 'Friendship Tree' Last Year. It Is Now Dead twitter:description: The tree was planted to symbolize friendship between the U.S. and France twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73b845fc801c3569/69894b217cdbac57e6d5fa5a/gettyimages-950557282.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # French President Macron Gave President Trump a 'Friendship Tree' Last Year. It Is Now Dead > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Nadia Suleman](https://time.com/author/nadia-suleman/)  ## Nadia Suleman Jun 12, 2019 11:05 PM UTC  President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron plant the symbolic tree at the White House while Melania Trump and Brigitte Macron watch on Monday, April 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron plant the symbolic tree at the White House while Melania Trump and Brigitte Macron watch on Monday, April 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post / Getty Images  by [Nadia Suleman](https://time.com/author/nadia-suleman/)  ## Nadia Suleman Jun 12, 2019 11:05 PM UTC French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the “friendship tree” he presented as a gift to the White House last year has died, and that a replacement is on the way. President Donald Trump and Macron originally planted the [European sessile oak together](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/first-lady-melania-trump-releases-details-trump-administrations-first-state-visit/) in April 2018 when Macron made his first official state visit to the White House. The tree was taken from Belleau Wood in France — the site of a World War I battle in which thousands of U.S. Marines died defending France against Germany’s invasion. [According to Le Monde](http://), the tree planted by the two world leaders was meant to “symbolize the tenacity of friendship.” And, at the time, Macron [tweeted ](https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/988735389182648320?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E988735389182648320&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fslate.com%2Fnews-and-politics%2F2019%2F06%2Ftrump-macron-friendship-tree-dead.html)that the tree served as “a reminder at the White House of these ties that bind us.” > [](https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/988693769796059136) [French news outlets](https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2019/06/05/entre-trump-et-macron-la-fin-des-illusions%5F5471687%5F3210.html?xtmc=chene%5Ftrump&xtcr=1) broke the story over the weekend that it had died, with the New York [_Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/us/trump-macron-friendship-tree.html) confirming the oak’s passing on Tuesday. Macron also confirmed the tree’s death in an interview with Swiss television station [RTS](https://www.rts.ch/info/monde/10499842-macron-serait-pret-a-soutenir-la-candidature-de-merkel-a-la-tete-de-la-commission-europeenne.html) on Tuesday, [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/12/politics/friendship-tree-france-white-house-intl/index.html) reported. “We will send him another,” Macron told RTS when asked about the tree. “It is not a tragedy.” Then-French Ambassador to the U.S. Gérard Araud said that the tree was “enclosed in plastic protection” during the planting ceremony, as it had to be [quarantined](https://twitter.com/GerardAraud/status/990717325191057409?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) per U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations on foreign plants to prevent possible soil contamination. During his interview with RTS, according to CNN, Macron said that it was because of this quarantine that the tree died. The United States and France have a historically shared a close relationship. However, in recent months Macron has become more outspoken and [critical of Trump’s behavior](https://time.com/5450185/emmanuel-macron-centenary-world-war-paris-trump-summit/), while the U.S. President has [recently threatened to impose tariffs](https://time.com/5604027/trump-french-wine-tariffs/) on French wine imports. Though, at their most recent joint appearance, the two leaders put any differences aside to commemorate the [75th anniversary of D-Day](https://time.com/5595104/d-day-veterans-remember/). According to CNN, in the interview, Macron said he would send a birch tree as a replacement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5605657/macron-new-friendship-tree-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5605657/macron-new-friendship-tree-trump/"},"headline":"French President Macron Gave President Trump a 'Friendship Tree' Last Year. 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