Donald attacks ‘nasty’ comments by Macron
DONALD Trump accused French President Emmanuel Macron of being “nasty” yesterday.
The US President, in London for a summit marking the Western military alliance’s 70th anniversary, reacted angrily after Mr Macron described Nato as “brain dead”.
Mr Macron’s outburst last month was in response to Turkish attacks against Kurdish forces in Syria.
He said the US had effectively encouraged the Turkish offensive by withdrawing its troops from the region without consulting Nato, despite the wider consequences.
Asked yesterday about Mr Macron’s outburst, Mr Trump said it was a “very, very nasty” statement to the other 28 countries in Nato.
And taking a swipe at the French president, Mr Trump said France had “a very high unemployment rate – France is not doing well”.
However, at a joint press conference later Mr Trump struck a warmer tone. And while Mr Macron insisted he stood by his original remarks, he acknowledged US concerns that allies had not borne their fair share of the financial burden for collective defence.
He cited the US unilateral withdrawal from the INF treaty with Russia banning medium range missiles, as well as the threat of terrorism, as reasons why “strategic clarification” was needed to deliver long-term peace in Europe.
“I look at Turkey,” he said, “fighting against those who fought with us against Islamic State and sometimes they work with IS proxies. It is still an issue and it is a strategic issue.”