President Donald Trump has joined France’s President Emmanuel Macron for the national Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, reviewing a large military parade on the Champs Elysee.

President Macron was driven to the VIP dais in a French army command jeep, reviewing troops as he went. President Trump and First Lady Melania were taken in the Presidential limousine and where joined by President Macron.

The parades, which not only commemorate the storming of the Bastille fortress in 1789 but also the 100th anniversary of the United States joining the Great War, will feature infantry, armoured fighting vehicles, cavalry, and a military flypast.

Once the parade has concluded, the President and First Lady will depart for Paris Orly airport where they will embark upon Air Force One to return to the United States.

Two hours before the parade Friday, the famed Champs-Elysees avenue was emptied as was the Place de la Concorde with its golden-tipped obelisk. The wide boulevard has been targeted repeatedly by Islamic extremists, most recently last month when a man crashed his car into a convoy of gendarmes.