US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized the "brain death" statement on NATO by French President Emmanuel Macron. NATO serves "a great purpose," said Trump at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before the start of the Alliance Summit in London. Macron's statement was "very insulting" and "very, very vicious" compared to the other 28 member states of NATO.
Trump warned that France could break away from the Alliance. "Nobody needs NATO more than France," he said. The expressions of Macron are "a very dangerous explanation".
Macron had certified NATO's "brain death" in early November. Macron justified this with the "aggressive" approach of NATO member Turkey in northern Syria and the mismatched withdrawal of US troops from the region. The French President also raised the question of the importance of the Nato Treaty assistance clause and stated that Europe could also defend itself.
Surprisingly long Trump statement
Actually, there should only be a statement at the appointment in the morning in London, but Trump talked hot for almost half an hour.
For Germany, the US President had a few sentences left. As expected, he complained that in his opinion the German defense budget did not rise fast enough. Turning to Stoltenberg, he demanded that NATO should sum up the years in which Germany pays too little and then demand that amount as a kind of debt.
The NATO summit will begin this evening with a reception by British Queen Elizabeth II. In the afternoon, Syria will have a four-party meeting with Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ( Here you can read more about it).
Otherwise, the two-day summit will focus on positioning the alliance against Russia and China and raising defense spending. In addition, the Alliance wants to declare space as a military area of operation.
