THAT DON-KOPF!
Trump leaves Euro allies on own: Merkel
Just days after President Trump lectured NATO members about ponying up their fair share for defense, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe could no longer count on its allies.
“The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out,” Merkel said during a campaign appearance at a beer tent in Munich on Sunday. “I’ve experienced that in the last few days.
“We must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans,” she added.
Merkel didn’t mention Trump by name, but his bruising comments last week about NATO members falling behind on their dues and his lack of commitment for the Paris climate-change accord have continued to send shock waves through Europe.
During a meeting of NATO-member leaders in Brussels Thursday, Trump called out the nations behind in their responsibility to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense.
“In facing our common challenges, we must also ensure that NATO members meet their finan- cial obligations and pay what they owe. Many have not been doing that,” Trump said at the organization’s new headquarters.
He also rankled the NATO allies when he did not endorse the organization’s mutual defense pledge that an attack on one member is an attack on all members. Known as Article 5, it has been invoked only once in NATO’s 68-year history — after the 9/11 attacks.
Then, during the G-7 meeting in Italy over the weekend, Trump refused to say whether the US would remain in the Paris climate agreement, which aims to curb carbon emissions.
Trump’s silence frustrated Merkel, who’s up for a fourth term in September.
“The whole discussion about climate was very difficult, not to say unsatisfactory,” she said. “There’s a situation where it’s six — if you count the European Union, seven — against one.”
Trump, who in the past has called global warming a “hoax,” is planning to quit the accord, Axios reported on Sunday.
The White House has said the president is undecided, and Trump tweeted that he would make a decision this week.