Trump under fire at home and abroad
FURIOUS US PRESIDENT CUTS SHORT NATO SUMMIT
Us President Donald Trump shattered the professed Nato unity as leaders gathered yesterday on the 70th anniversary of the landmark alliance, calling one leader “two-faced,” another “nasty” and holding an exclusive gathering for only the organisation’s top defence spenders.
Trump’s sparring with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emanuel Macron exposed the alliance’s divisions on defence spending and relations with Turkey, as well as the US leader’s own unconventional ways on the world stage.
While Nato leaders emphasised unity, Trump convened his own sub-group of the alliance — limited to only those meeting the defence spending target. Earlier yesterday, Trump sat down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as European leaders, led by Macron, pushed the alliance to get tough on Turkey after its October invasion of Syria and its purchase of Russian surface-to-air missiles.
A furious Trump cut short his attendance at the summit and returned after a group of leaders was caught on video ridiculing the US president for staging lengthy press conferences .
Experts: Impeachable action
The personal attacks and policy divides served as counter-programming to events in Washington, where House Democrats resumed their push for impeachment over Trump’s call for Ukraine to investigate a political rival. Three constitutional scholars invited to testify at yesterday’s hearings said that Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine for political gain clearly meet the historical definition of impeachable offences. The three
law professors appeared in the first impeachment hearing before the House Judiciary Committee as it kicked off a debate about whether to draft articles of impeachment against the president.
Nato leaders gathered at a golf resort near London yesterday for a summit acrimonious even by the standards of the Trump era, aiming to tackle sharp disagreements over spending, future threats including China and Turkey’s role in the alliance.
With US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron blowing hot and cold over Nato’s function, the 29-member military alliance is looking for reinvigoration as it marks the 70th anniversary of its Cold War-era founding.
“Clearly it is very important that the alliance stays together,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters as he prepared to welcome heads of state and government. “But there is far, far more that unites us than divides us.” Leaders held preliminary meetings in London on Tuesday, during which stark differences were aired, with Trump, who in the past has called Nato obsolete, criticising Macron for comments last month about Nato’s strategic “brain death”.
Syria incursions
Trump said Macron’s remarks were “nasty”. He also described allies who spend too little on defence as “delinquent”. Macron held his ground, saying as he arrived that it was important for leaders to discuss issues in an open and forthright manner if they were to find solutions.
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One of Macron’s chief complaints is that Turkey has increasingly acted unilaterally, carrying out incursions into Syria, taking up arms against the Kurdish YPG militia that had been allied with Western forces against Daesh, and buying the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has pushed back, saying he will oppose Nato’s plan for the defence of Baltic countries if the alliance does not recognise groups that Turkey deems terrorists, including the YPG.
Arriving at the 18th-century estate that once hosted a golf championship won by Tiger Woods, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas — whose country depends on Nato as a shield against Russia — said he was confident divisions could be overcome.
“Nato is strong. Nato’s deterrence is 100% credible,” he said. “Transatlantic ... cooperation is a cornerstone for us, for our security, for both sides of the Atlantic.”
At the summit, Europe, Turkey and Canada are expected to respond to Trump’s accusations that they spend too little on defence by pledging an extra $400 billion by 2024. Germany, a frequent target of Trump’s blandishments to spend more, has promised to spend 2 per cent of national output by 2031.
Nato will also warn China for the first time that it is monitoring Beijing’s growing military might.