US President Donald Trump has labeled French President Emmanuel Macron’s harsh criticism of NATO as „insulting“ and „disrespectful“ to Allies. Macron made a „very, very bad statement,“ Trump said today in London in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Macron had declared NATO „brain dead“ and demanded more European independence on security issues. With the fundamental criticism, he has triggered a heated debate over the future of the military alliance. He was very surprised by Macron’s statement, Trump said. „Nobody needs NATO more than France.“ Sometimes Macron does things that are „counterproductive“ to his country.
Just before meeting
Trump and Macron come together for a bilateral meeting in the afternoon. The threat of new US punitive tariffs on French products due to the introduction of a controversial digital tax creates additional tensions between France and the United States.
The heads of state and government of the 29 NATO member states are meeting today and tomorrow for a summit in London. The occasion is the 70th anniversary of Allianz. Trump stressed the importance of NATO. At previous summits, he had gone on a confrontational course with the allies, especially because of the amount of defense spending
