Mocked Trump cuts short Nato summit duties
US president cancels press conference and takes early exit from Nato summit to head back to Washington
Donald Trump left the Nato summit yesterday after leaders were filmed mocking him at Buckingham Palace. The US president called Justin Trudeau “two-faced” and cancelled a press conference after the Canadian prime minister poked fun at him in talks with Boris Johnson.
DONALD TRUMP left a British-hosted Nato summit yesterday after world leaders were caught on camera mocking him at Buckingham Palace.
The US president called Justin Trudeau “two-faced” and cancelled an end of summit press conference after the Canadian prime minister poked fun at him in a conversation with Boris Johnson and the Princess Royal.
The row overshadowed what was meant to be a 70th anniversary celebration of Nato when the leaders of the 29 member states gathered at a hotel near Watford.
Downing Street had identified Mr Trump’s visit as a potentially dangerous moment during the election campaign because of the US President’s unpredictability.
But the most risky moment of all – a press conference at which he was expected to face questions from the British media – did not happen after he announced he was going home early.
It came after a video emerged online of Mr Trudeau joking about an impromptu 40-minute press conference held by Mr Trump at the start of a meeting on Tuesday with UN Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In the footage, filmed by Buckingham Palace pool cameraman Peter Wilkinson, Mr Johnson is seen asking French President Emmanuel Macron: “Is that why you were late?”
Mr Trudeau, addressing Mr Johnson, the Princess, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, and Mr Macron, said: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top…. You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.” The leaders did not appear to realise that they were being recorded.
While Mr Trump was not mentioned by name, Mr Trudeau later clarified he was referring to Mr Trump’s announcement that the forthcoming G7 summit will be hosted at Camp David.
The US president was quick to retaliate. Asked about Mr Trudeau’s comments, Mr Trump told reporters: “Well, he’s two-faced.”
Speaking during a short press meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Trump added: “With Trudeau, he is a nice guy, I find him to be a very nice guy, but the fact is I called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2 per cent [of GDP on defence] and I guess he is not very happy about it.”
Mr Trump then announced he was cancelling his official press conference and that he would go “directly back” to Washington after his meetings.
The president tweeted that he cancelled the press conference because he “did so many over the past two days”. On Twitter, Mr Trump focused on the success of his lobbying effort for more defence spending from Nato members.
Countries other than America have agreed $160 billion in additional spending since 2016 and will reach a total of $400bn by 2024. “Nato will be richer and stronger than ever before,” said Mr
‘I called him [Trudeau] out on the fact that he is not paying 2 per cent [of GDP on defence] and I guess he is not very happy about it’
Trump, who once called the transatlantic alliance “obsolete”.
Yesterday began with an awkward delay over the leaders’ group photo, with Mr Trump holding up proceedings by running late. White House reporters recorded a “perturbed” Mr Johnson asking how long Mr Trump would take to join him.
Mr Trudeau was not the only Nato leader criticised by Mr Trump. Ms Merkel sat next to him as he publicly criticised Germany’s failure to meet the 2 per cent defence spending target.
Mr Trump said: “Germany is a little bit under the limit – I will say that – but we’ll talk about that now.”
He also took aim at the European Union, and the difficulty America has had in agreeing a trade deal with the bloc. “The EU is actually one of the more difficult deals we have … because it’s been going on for a long time,” he said.
“It’s been a little tough for the United States, we’ve had a very bad imbalance for many many years, for decades actually.” As he left the summit Mr Trump told an aide, “That was funny when I said that guy was two-faced”, referring to Mr Trudeau.
The Buckingham Palace video continued to dominate the Watford summit even after Mr Trump departed. Mr Johnson was asked if it means he does not take the US president seriously. He replied: “That’s absolute nonsense. I don’t know where that came from.”
Mr Trudeau explained his comment, that Mr Trump’s officials had their “jaws on the floor” by saying: “We were all surprised and I think pleased to learn that the next G7 will be at Camp David. I think that was an unscheduled announcement.”
Mr Johnson said the NHS was not discussed with the US president when the pair met for talks on Tuesday and he described claims about the NHS being used as a bargaining chip as “complete nonsense”. Nato, trade and Syria were the main topics of conversation during the meeting, Mr Johnson said.