Donald Trump remains unhappy with the Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that the EU needs an army to defend itself from the US.
Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Emmanuel Macron, claiming the French “were starting to learn German” until the US intervened in the First and Second World Wars.
In his latest rebuke of the French president – who last week called for a “real European army” to defend the continent against China, Russia and even the US – Mr Trump appeared to insult the role played by Paris in both of the conflicts.
The US leader, who had already described the idea of an EU army as “insulting”, tweeted: “Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the US, China and Russia.
“But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the US came along. Pay for NATO or not!”
He later added: “The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject.
“By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so! MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”
Despite talk of a blossoming bromance between the pair after Mr Macron enjoyed a visit to Washington earlier this year, tensions have simmered in recent weeks.
Mr Trump visited Paris for a weekend of events commemorating 100 years since the end of the First World War, and had a frosty meeting with his French counterpart in front of cameras at the Elysee Palace on Saturday morning.
The US president reiterated his complaint about the amount Europe contributes to NATO, and said: “Different countries have to also help and it’s only fair… and the president (Mr Macron) and I very much agree on that.”
Mr Macron said that while he agreed, he thought it was “unfair” for European security to be overly-reliant on the US.
Less than 24 hours later, Mr Macron used his speech marking Armistice Day to warn world leaders as to the dangers of the nationalist sentiment being adopted by the likes of the US.
In front of nearly 70 heads of state, he said that nationalism is a “betrayal of patriotism”.
Mr Trump was among those who listened in silence as he used the occasion to sound a sobering warning about the fragility of peace and the dangers of nations that put themselves first.
Mr Macron’s rallying cry was echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a peace forum in the city later in the day, but neither warning seems likely to be heeded by Mr Trump.
The Republican has repeatedly criticised the amount of money Europe commits to NATO compared to the US, and earlier this year suggested allies double their targeted 2024 spending commitment from 2% of their GDP to 4%.
Credit: Skynews
