Tensions rise between French, U.S. presidents
Trump, Macron clash over defence spending, NATO’s future and Syria withdrawal
LONDON— Thumping his chest on the world stage as he faces an impeachment inquiry at home, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed credit Tuesday for transforming NATO as the military alliance marks its 70th anniversary. But he also differed with America’s NATO allies, especially French President Emmanuel Macron, about defence spending and the alliance’s very mission.
Trump began the first of two days at the NATO conference by publicly rebuking Macron, once arguably his closest European ally, for recently saying the post-Second World War alliance was experiencing “brain death” as a result of diminished U.S. leadership under Trump.
“I think that’s insulting to a lot of different forces,” said Trump. “It’s very disrespectful.”
But the president himself has questioned whether the alliance has become “obsolete,” and he accused NATO members anew of shirking national commitments on military spending.
Hours later, Macron and Trump sat side by side for a media session, and Macron said he stood by his comments about the health of the NATO alliance. He also firmly expressed his frustration that Trump withdrew hundreds of U.S. troops from Syria in October.
The U.S. president bantered with reporters for more than two hours Tuesday, sitting casually in a salon of Winfield House, the manicured estate of the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he also met with fellow NATO leaders.
He slammed the ongoing Democratic-led impeachment inquiry back in the United States as a “hoax” and professed to be unconcerned about declines in the stock market spurred by his remark that a trade deal with China might not materialize until after the 2020 election.
The gathering of NATO leaders follows Trump’s frequent criticism of alliance members as falling well short in doing their financial part through the first three years of his presidency.
After a NATO summit last year, he called for members devote at least four per cent of gross domestic product to military spending and took aim at German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he accused of paying Russia ‘”billions of dollars for gas and energy” while failing to meet her nation’s commitment to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence.
But at this NATO meeting, Trump — who heads toward an election year looking to showcase foreign policy wins — is offering a more optimistic outlook for the alliance’s future. To that end, he suggested he deserved much of the credit for progress.
Trump’s talks with Macron were tense at times.
Before meeting with him on the sidelines of the summit, Trump laced into the French president for what he called “very, very nasty” comments in the Economist about NATO’s health with Trump leading its most important member. Macron didn’t back down when they appeared later in the day, and he renewed his own criticism of Trump for withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria.
At another point in their extended comments before the news media, Trump and Macron had a curt exchange about the repatriation of Islamic State fighters who are European citizens and were captured in Syria and Iraq in recent years. Trump has pressed unsuccessfully for European nations to accept fighters captured by U.S. forces.
“Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I can give them to you,” Trump said. “You can take every one you want.”
“Let’s be serious,” Macron responded. “Your number one problem are not the foreign fighters.“
Trump retorted, “That’s one of the greatest non-answers I’ve ever heard. And, that’s OK.”