Washington: In Jerusalem earlier Tuesday, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, as well as (perpetual shadows) Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, were on hand at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The event was standard, solemn fare for visiting dignitaries; the memorial is one of the most sacred sites in Israel, second in visitors to the Western Wall.
As is tradition for most world leaders, Trump and the first lady also signed the guest book.
Here's what the president wrote, via @RaoulWootliff:
"It is a great honor to be here with all of my friends. So amazing + will Never Forget!"
On the left, via @RaoulWootliff, the note Trump just left at Yad Vashem.'So amazing!'On the right, the note Obama left at Yad Vashem. pic.twitter.com/rdviJtF3HI— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 23, 2017
Tweeted out, the Internet went bonkers. Not only was Trump's inscription fewer than 140 characters -- a Twitter post limit he must know well by now -- it resembles something more akin to what you might jot down on a Hallmark 'Thank You' card, less something to commemorate the occasion of the leader of the free world paying respects at a memorial.
The uproar was even more pronounced when there was recall of what then-President Obama had written in a similar visit back in 2013: "It is humbling and inspiring to visit and remember the visionary who began the remarkable establishment of the State of Israel. May our two countries possess the same vision and will to secure peace and prosperity for future generations."
Or, perhaps even more striking in the difference of content, length, and tone, from the note Obama left in 2008:
On the left, via @RaoulWootliff, the note Trump just left at Yad Vashem.'So amazing!'On the right, the note Obama left at Yad Vashem. pic.twitter.com/rdviJtF3HI— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 23, 2017
It's not surprising that Trump, a man of few adjectives but strong on exclamatory statements, kept his words to a minimum. He's also figuring out this whole POTUS thing as he goes along; to be fair, this is his very first trip abroad as commander in chief. And he still wrote more than then-President George W. Bush, a president also not really known for his way with words, who signed the Yad Vashem guest book with just "God Bless Israel" on a 2008 visit.
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