The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
US denies reports it apologised to Britain for Trump spying accusation
Deputy head of US National Security Agency says accusation is ‘just crazy’
TRUMP TWEETS: GERMANY OWES ‘VAST SUMS’ TO NATO
THE WHITE House has said it did not accuse Britain’s spy agency of secretly eavesdropping on US President Donald Trump at the behest of former President Barack Obama during last year’s campaign. Instead, it was reiterating media reports about the allegations, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. Senior administration officials also denied reports that Spicer had offered regret to the British ambassador for the allegations.
At his Mar-a-lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the weekend, President Trump tweeted that Germany owes “vast sums of money” to NATO and the US “must be paid more” for providing defence.
Trump wrote, “...Germany owes ... vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”
The president Friday hosted Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the White House.
Trump had said he had nothing to retract or apologise for because his spokesman had simply repeated an assertion made by a Fox News commentator that Britain had spied on Trump at Obama’s behest.
“We said nothing,” Trump told a German reporter who asked about the matter at a news conference with Merkel. “All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn’t make an opinion on it.”
The president tried making a joke about it, turning to Merkel, whowasangeredduringobama’s administrationbyreportsthatthe National Security Agency (NSA) had tapped her cellphone and thoseofotherleaders.“atleastwe have something in common, perhaps,” Trump said. After the news conference, Spicer echoed Trump’s unapologetic tone. “I don’t think we regret anything,” he told reporters. “I was just readingoffmediareports.”aseniorofficialsaid,“spicerdidn’tapologise (to Britain), no way, no how.”
Richard Ledgett, deputy head of the NSA, said in an interview to BBC News Saturday the idea that Britain had a hand in spying on Trump was “just crazy”. “It completely ignores the political reality of ‘would the UK government agree to do that?’”, he said.