Updated April 16th, 2019 at 21:45 IST

Barack Obama and Donald Trump each responded to the Notre Dame fire in their own way, netizens contrast the two Presidents

As a massive fire broke out at Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral on Monday afternoon, US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama responded quickly on their Twitter accounts about the tragic incident.

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As a massive fire broke out at Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral on Monday afternoon, US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama responded quickly on their Twitter accounts about the tragic incident.

In their own way, both the US leaders were trying to offer support as France grappled with a tragedy that’s almost impossible to immediately process.

While Trump responded with a piece of advice for France’s Civil Security agency to act quickly and make use of aerial actions for putting out the fire, Obama sent out his heartfelt message for his 106 million followers expressing his sadness over the medieval-era monument's plight.

Here is the US President’s tactical advice on using “flying-water tanks” to put out the fire:

So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

On the other hand, Obama’s message struck a decidedly different tone:

Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can. pic.twitter.com/SpMEvv1BzB
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama)

Soon after Trump’s advice, the French officials sent out a tweet of their own, saying all options were on the table for saving the cathedral, literally except the solution suggested by America’s President.

Hundreds of firemen of the Paris Fire Brigade are doing everything they can to bring the terrible #NotreDame fire under control. All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.
— Sécurité Civile Fr (@SecCivileFrance)

They explained to the US President that any aerial water dumping could "weaken the structure of Notre Dame and result in collateral damage to the buildings in the vicinity."

READ | "We Will Rebuild It Together": France's President Emmanuel Macron Makes A Notre Dame Vow After Devastating Blaze, World Leaders Express Support

'Securite Civile' also informed that hundreds of firemen of the Paris fire brigade were doing everything they could but not use water-bombing aircraft to bring the horrible fire under control as it could lead to ‘collapsing of the entire structure of the cathedral’.

To which Trump later sent out a far more simple and supportive tweet:

God bless the people of France!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Soon after Trump's advice, netizens discussed the difference in approaches between the two, starting with a unanimous panning of Trump telling the French firefighters how to do their job:

Real leaders are sending condolences and you are trying to tell the amazingly skilled sapeurs-pompiers de Paris how to do their jobs? Really? You are embarrassing all of us.
— Edan Clay 🇺🇸 (@EdanClay)

The awful tragedy in Paris is compounded by the sad realization that the United States is saddled with a president lacking the global respect and stature to offer credible, heartfelt words of comfort and consoling... #NotreDame #Trump
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy)

Has anyone else found themselves wondering if, aside from the massive, ignorant ego inserting himself into the story by telling French fire fighters how to do their job, what's really happening here is this sorry excuse for a human is jealous because the news is not about him?
— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@UROCKlive1)

Maybe you shouldn’t try to give any advice on fire safety.https://t.co/mE0uUnH9js
— LiA (@LibsInAmerica)

Wow! We never thought about acting quickly to put out a fire 🔥 When are you going to learn to think for a minute before tweeting what first comes in to your tiny mind ?
— CazMac 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🐕🌻🌞 I’m a 🐌👩🏼‍💻📚 (@mac_caz)

The comments on Obama's tweet clearly displayed how the netizens still miss him:

Thank you. It is heartwarming to hear comforting words from an admired leader. In times of great sorrow people have a need for someone to bring us together in shared grief. It's sometimes called being presidential. There's been a real lack of that lately. Miss you!
— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@UROCKlive1)

I miss having a president who could grieve without making it about himself.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski)

THIS is how you react to this situation. NOT suggest they throw buckets of water on the building.
— Mary Robakowski (@MaryRobakowski)

Oh look. A real president tweets words of sympathy and hope, not bad firefighting advice.
— Autarkh (@Autarkh)

The inferno destroyed the roof of the 850-year-old UNESCO world heritage landmark, whose spectacular Gothic spire collapsed as orange flames and clouds of grey smoke billowed into the sky.

Around 400 firefighters battled into the night to control the flames, declaring in the early hours of Tuesday that the fire was under control, around nine hours after it broke out.

Published April 16th, 2019 at 15:52 IST

Barack Obama and Donald Trump each responded to the Notre Dame fire in their own way, netizens contrast the two Presidents

As a massive fire broke out at Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral on Monday afternoon, US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama responded quickly on their Twitter accounts about the tragic incident.

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