Trump to attend Normandy ceremonies marking 75th anniversary of D-Day

President Donald Trump is joined by World War II veterans, seated from left, Sidney Walton, Allen Jones, Paul Kriner and Floyd Wigfield, in the Oval Office of Thursday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Trump confirmed Thursday that he would travel to France in June to attend ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of northern Europe during World War II, known as D-Day.

Trump announced his trip while meeting with World War II veterans in the Oval Office. When one vet told the president that he hoped Trump would be present at the ceremonies, the president answered, "I'll be there."

More than 160,000 American, British, Canadian and other Allied troops went ashore at five beaches in the Normandy region of northern France early on the morning of June 6, 1944, in the largest amphibious invasion in history. Dwight Eisenhower, then the supreme Allied commander in Europe, described the landings, codenamed Operation Overlord, as the beginning of a "great crusade" to free the continent from domination by Nazi Germany.

D-DAY REMEMBERED: THE DAY WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO WIN

"The eyes of the world are upon you," Eisenhower wrote in his Order of the Day for June 6. "The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world."

Despite fierce German resistance, the Allies established a beachhead in northern France, dislodging German forces that retreated across northern Europe. Paris was liberated a little more than two months later.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump traveled to France in November to commemorate the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I, but was heavily criticized for skipping a planned wreath-laying ceremony at an American war cemetery. The White House said at the time that the president's helicopter was grounded by bad weather, and that there was no backup plan to travel to the cemetery by motorcade.

"President Trump did not want to cause that kind of unexpected disruption to the city [Paris] and its people," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.