President Trump on Tuesday offered weak excuses for not attending Saturday’s memorial ceremonies in France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

While both excuses have slight merits in that Trump is almost certainly honest in saying that the Secret Service did not want him to attend the events, neither excuse ultimately passes full muster.

First off, it should be obvious that the HMX-1 U.S. Marine Corps squadron that flies the president has numerous aircraft capable of navigating harsh weather. The squadron’s pilots are also some of the finest in the military, trained in combat aviation as well as VIP transport. But in specific terms, the Blackhawk helicopters and Osprey tiltrotor aircraft that form part of the HMX-1 complement are designed to fly under enemy fire in the exact harsh conditions that existed on Saturday. Indeed, they are designed to fly in even harsher conditions. Using an array of terrain mapping, advanced GPS, and other measurement and identification instruments, the president’s pilots could have got him to his destination at very low risk. Absent countervailing excuse or some evidence of specific threat, had Trump insisted that they take him, they would have done so.