'Nothing will separate' France, US

French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump marked France's national day together yesterday at a military parade which clearly delighted the US president and showcased the warming relations between the two leaders.

Macron invited Trump to be his guest of honour at the Bastille Day celebration, which featured French and American troops marching down the fabled Champs-Elysees in Paris, opening to a flypast by two US F-22 stealth fighters and climaxing in a roaring pass by French jets.

Trump, 71, was frequently on his feet and applauding, while he and Macron again looked at ease in each other's company, leaning in to chat and touching each other on the shoulder.

"Nothing will ever separate us," Macron said during a speech at the end of parade, adding that Trump's presence was "the sign of a friendship across the ages" between their countries.

The Paris parade this year marked the centenary of the United States entering World War I in 1917 and featured 63 planes, 29 helicopters, 241 horses and 3,720 soldiers, including US troops dressed in the brown uniform and gaiters of the Great War.

"It was a great honor to represent the United States at the magnificent #BastilleDay parade," Trump wrote on Twitter after his departure, which featured another long and muscular handshake between the men. "Congratulations President @EmmanuelMacron!" he added.

But the celebrations were also tinged with mourning, one year on since a jihadist massacre in the Mediterranean city of Nice where a man drove a truck into a crowd, killing 86 people.