Trump unsettles world stage at Nato
President Donald Trump openly jousted with French President Emmanuel Macron – a leader who until recently had been one of Trump’s earliest and most prominent partners in bromance.
He thrust Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau uncomfortably into the spotlight, asking for Canada’s ‘‘number’’ on meeting its financial commitment to Nato’s shared defence.
And he previewed a likely confrontation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he is scheduled to meet over Germany’s financial contributions to Nato.
On the first day of the Nato 70th anniversary summit in London, Trump pronounced, prodded and pushed America’s allies into a state of unbalance – seizing the global stage to both bully and banter, all while keeping himself at the centre of attention.
Over the course of three one-on-one meetings with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Macron and Trudeau, Trump turned what were expected to be brief photo opportunities into his own personal daytime cable show. The US president held forth for a collective two hours, fielding questions on topics ranging from the impeachment investigation he left at home to the British election campaign he flew into here.
Stoltenberg – praising Trump’s ‘‘leadership on defence spending’’ as helping to add more than $130 billion (NZ$199b) to military coffers from Canada and European allies since 2016 – seemed to acknowledge the ways in which Trump’s often capricious style has simultaneously distressed allies while, at times, also yielding results.
‘‘This is unprecedented,’’ Stoltenberg said. ‘‘This is making Nato stronger. And it shows that this alliance is adapting, responding when the world is changing.’’
Trump began the day on a fiery note, using his first public appearance alongside Stoltenberg to criticise Macron for an interview with The Economist magazine, in which Macron described the ‘‘brain death’’ of Nato resulting from the US decision to not consult with its allies on pulling troops out of Syria. Trump called the remarks ‘‘very, very nasty’’.
‘‘You just can’t go around making statements like that about Nato,’’ said Trump, who has spent much of his time in office deriding the organisation.
Later, during his meeting with Trudeau, Trump chided Nato countries that have failed to spend 2 per cent of gross domestic product on the alliance’s shared defence, and he twice pressed Trudeau for exactly how much Canada was contributing. ‘‘We’ll put Canada on a payment plan,’’ Trump said.
He added that the gathered leaders would be discussing what to do with ‘‘delinquent’’ countries, but said he personally prefers to retaliate through trade measures.
At his afternoon appearance with Macron, Trump and the French president articulated their disagreements – at times quite forcefully – but with a veneer of conciliation. Trump said they had a ‘‘minor dispute’’ that he expected they could work out – a reference to France’s plan to tax US tech giants and the US threat to retaliate with tariffs as high as 100 per cent on some French goods.
By nightfall in London, Trump and Macron appeared to have put the day’s acrimony aside. The men arrived together at 10 Downing Street for a reception hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with Trump apparently giving Macron, along with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, a lift in ‘‘The Beast,’’ the president’s armoured limousine. – Washington Post