Trump’s attacks on Macron were a response to the French leader’s comments last month to Economist magazine that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization appears to have suffered “brain death” due to an inability to cooperate and coordinate among its 29 member nations from Europe and North America.
“You just can’t go around making statements like that about NATO,” Trump said, flanked by NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg during a one-0n-one meeting between them. “I would say that nobody needs NATO more than France,” Trump said. “That’s why I think when France makes a statement like they made about NATO, that’s a very dangerous statement for them to make.”
Macron also had called into question whether NATO will remain committed to the 1948 North Atlantic Treaty’s bedrock Article 5 — which defines an attack against one as an attack against all — in an era of rising populist nationalism, particularly white nationalism, fueled by Trump’s “America First” policies.
Trump policies of seeking to tear down and fundamentally realign global politics and economics have strained relations with NATO allies. He called NATO “obsolete” during his campaign for the White House, even suggesting America might not defend the alliance’s members if they were attacked, and last year began hammering away at traditional U.S. allies to pressure them into spending more on defense.
Later on Tuesday, however, Trump seemed to soften his position towards Macron during their one-on-one meeting. He said that he and Macron had a “minor dispute” over France’s plan to impose stiffer taxes on U.S. high-tech companies and Trump’s plan to retaliate with major tariffs on French goods.
“We would rather not do that,” Trump said. “But it’s either going to work out, or we’ll work out some mutually beneficial tax. And the tax will be substantial, and I’m not sure it will come to that, but it might.”
Macron, for his part made clear he stood by his comments to the Economist. “I know that my statements created some reactions,” Macron said. “When we speak about NATO, it’s not just about money. We have to be respectful with our soldiers. The first burden we share, the first cost we pay, is our soldiers’ lives.”
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II welcomed Stoltenberg and other NATO leaders to London at a Buckingham Palace reception on Tuesday night, ahead of Wednesday’s meeting among NATO leaders. Stoltenberg was scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday after the leaders’ morning meeting.
