Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, YouTube Screenshot

Foreign Leaders Mock President Trump Behind His Back During a Reception in Buckingham Palace

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In: FOREIGN POLICY

Video footage released on Tuesday, December 3 appeared to show French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Princess Anne gossiping about President Trump because of how much time he spent with the press conferences earlier that day. According to the video, none of the world leaders mention Trump by name but Rutte is heard joking with Macron about the ‘fake news media.’ 

The Daily Mail created a transcript from the conversation:

Boris Johnson: Is that why you were late?

Justin Trudeau: He was late because he takes a 40 minute press conference off the top.

Inaudible conversation

Justin Trudeau: Oh yeah, yeah yeah, he announced…

Emmanuel Macron speaks with his back turned to the camera

Mark Rutte: Fake news media!

Macron touches Rutte’s arm in agreement

Clip jumps to another point in the conversation

Princess Anne speaks with her face hidden from the camera

Justin Trudeau: You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.

View the footage of the gossip circle, and Trump’s response below:

Trump responded, “Trudeau is a nice guy, I find him to be a nice guy, but you know the truth is I called him out on the fact that he [Canada] is not paying  2%, and I guess he’s not very happy about.” Then, the next day, Trump called Trudeau “two-faced, but a nice guy.” Many began comparing that two-face remark to the blackface scandal that damaged Trudeau. This may or may not have been on purpose, but New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted, “A Trump adviser just pointed out that POTUS remark may have been intended as a dig at Trudeau over appearing in blackface.” 

The press conference between President Trump and Macron became tense when Trump pressed him to accept the return of ISIS fighters who originated in France. Trump stated, “We have a tremendous amount of captured fighters, ISIS fighters over in Syria. And they are all under lock and key but many are from France, many from Germany and many are from the U.K. They’re mostly from Europe. And some of the countries are agreeing. I have not spoken to the president about that. Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I can give them to you. You can take everyone you want.”

View the encounter below: 

President also had press conferences with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg During his press conference with the NATO chief,  Stoltenberg praised Trump for putting pressure on allies to increase their defense spending. “Your leadership on defense spending is having a real impact,” Stoltenberg said. “Since 2016, Canada and European allies have added $130 billion more to their defense budgets, and this number will increase to $400 billion by 2024. This is unprecedented. This is making NATO stronger, and it shows this alliance is adapting, responding when the world is changing.” 

Many reactions have been posted in response to the NATO summit, including Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) who tweeted this: 

Hawley also added, “I notice many of our European allies like to wax poetic on the importance of NATO, but they aren’t too eager to actually fund and outfit it. Alliances aren’t maintained by nostalgia.” 

Fox News host Laura Ingram tweeted in regards to Trump and Macron’s comments during their press conference, 

To read more about the entire NATO summit and notable moments, check out this Daily Mail article here. 

Connor Merk
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