Washington (CNN) Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday that President Donald Trump's decision to not attend a ceremony at an American burial ground in France because of rain "let down our country."

"He should've gone through it to go. It was not that big a challenge or problem. It was an embarrassment," Hagel, who served in the Obama administration, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on "CNN Right Now."

"And he let down, I think, our veterans, he let down our country. And I think he sent a very wrong message to the world," he said.

Trump, who was in Paris to commemorate the centennial of the end of World War I with other world leaders, has faced criticism for not attending the Saturday trip to the cemetery. Officially, the reason for scrapping the journey to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial came down to safety: the President's Marine One helicopter cannot fly in low cloud cover, a decision that is made by military and security officials and not the President.

But there did not appear to be a backup plan and the President did not make any statements of regret at not being able to visit the cemetery. The White House defended the President's decision not to travel by car, saying such a trip would have required closures to Parisian roadways on short notice.

"It was an embarrassment," says former Defense secretary Chuck Hagel about Trump skipping the veterans event: "He let down our veterans, he let down our country." https://t.co/xz7o6nEKTx pic.twitter.com/Y7ZdcbmKNO — CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) November 12, 2018

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