Another point of concern for NATO allies is Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Putin immediately after the summit in Brussels, drawing parallels with Trump’s post-G7 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Putin reportedly has been telling Trump that “fake news” and the “deep state” are conspiring against them.
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A senior European Union official lashed out on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ Time) at President Donald Trump, lambasting the United States leader’s constant criticism of European allies and urging him to remember who his friends are when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.
“Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you don’t have all that many”, he said.
The US president said it was “up to the people” whether or not Theresa May remained as prime minister. “The European officials we’ve spoken to would love nothing more than for Trump to take a victory lap and claim credit for them boosting their defense spending”, reported Jonathan Swan last week.
Some diplomats fear the president will threaten to pull troops out of Europe without more spending on defense, despite USA denials.
Trump’s comments come the day after U.S. NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison said efforts to prod members into increasing their defense spending are finding success.
Trump also noted that 2% of GDP should be the “bare minimum for confronting today’s very real and very vicious threats”. “NATO has not treated us fairly, but I think we’ll work something out”.
Ahead of his first formal visit to Britain as US President, Mr Trump delivered a damning indictment of Mrs May’s government saying it was in “turmoil” and Russian President Vladimir Putin may be less of a problem.
While it’s true that only a handful of the 28 member countries now spend 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense, a 2014 agreement gave all of them a decade to get to the 2 percent level.
“Boris Johnson is a friend of mine, he’s been very, very nice to me, very supportive”, he said.
European officials have expressed hopes that member states can paper over their differences, but European Union President Donald Tusk delivered a blunt message to the U.S. leader on Tuesday, urging hm to change his attitude.
Where are protests against Donald Trump taking place in Scotland?
Woody Johnson, Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said the president is aware of the planned protests but insisted that Trump “appreciates free speech” in both countries.
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THIS SHOULD BE EASY: President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. “We’re being taken advantage of by the European Union”, he said, referring to trade issues with the EU. Who would think! Who would think. “We’ll see how that goes”, he said of the summit with Putin to be held in Helsinki on Monday.
