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Donald Trump predicted that he would have "an interesting time" at this week's NATO summit. European leaders feared that the US president would go on the offensive against America's traditional allies. In the end, no one could say that they were surprised.
The breakfast was not even served in Brussels on Wednesday morning when Trump embarked on a bitter tirade against an old ally, declaring that Germany was "totally controlled by Russia". At a pre-summit breakfast with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, Trump accused Berlin of being "a prisoner of the Russians" because of his energy dependence
without waiting for the news cameras to slam. He said that "many countries" were coming out and "making a pipeline agreement with Russia, where they are paying billions of dollars in Russia's coffers". A two-minute clip posted on his Twitter feed aired the repeated two-minute tirade to his 53.4m supporters.
Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, looked at his boss and looked away, focusing on his empty plate. Stoltenberg, the former prime minister of Norway, seemed to be trying to make himself heard.
The scene was probably the most tense of the 69-year history of the alliance – and Trump had not even arrived at NATO HQ. As if to remind the American leader what the alliance was supposed to be, the slogan "we are allies" was written in big letters on the wall near the arrivals area.
Making his entrance, Angela Merkel retaliated with Trump, reflecting on his early years in East Germany Communist dominated by the Soviet Union. "I have had experience of part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union and I am very happy today that we are united in freedom in Federal Republic of Germany and so we can say that we can determine our own policies and make our own decisions On the other hand, Trump praised the French President Emmanuel Macron, stating that he had a " terrific relationship "with Macron, who" changed a lot of things and I guess it had to happen ". After Macron spoke in French, Trump laughed and said that he did not understand was said, but "he looked handsome".
Theresa May, who faces a four-day looming state visit from the US president, managed to avoid being questioned about Trump. But she could not avoid being asked about Brexit.
Where it goes in the world, the British prime minister can not escape the EU 's exit negotiations and his belligerent party. Explaining her Brexit tradeoff in a typical style, May said, "The Checkers agreement is a plan that was put in place, it was agreed by the government." She promised that more details would be revealed in his next white paper. Football – England will face Croatia in the semifinals of the World Cup Wednesday night – May wished good luck to the team. She revealed that she had exchanged shirts with the Croatian Prime Minister, avoiding any repetition of the embarrassing moment that she had had at a recent EU summit when she had been surprise empty-handed by a T-shirt of the Belgian Prime Minister.
The ceremonial parts of the NATO summit seemed to be proceeding smoothly. Trump arrived for the necessary family photo of NATO leaders, apparently in deep conversation with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, freshly sworn in as president of Turkey, under a new system that grants him considerably increased powers.
Trump was placed next to May in the photo. The two gave the impression of a lively conversation a day after Trump declared that the UK was in "turmoil" and congratulated Boris Johnson, who had abruptly resigned from the May government after to have flouted the Prime Minister's Brexit compromise. part of the family photo at the NATO Summit "src =" https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/72972d859d5786b87fe35009075081deb38a1aec/0_39_4464_2679/master/4464.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto= uSM & size = 12 & did = & s = max 22ed5a8f18055b27f50611d97bf17bbc "/>
But this year has not seen any insults to EU leaders, like what Trump gave the Prime Minister of Montenegro at the 2017 summit. The soldiers of the 29 armies of the alliance were under the national flag of 29 and a flag of NATO. A military band played the NATO anthem, a sound melody with horns amounting, which has been the official anthem since January. Trump and the other leaders looked up to see 25 military helicopters rumbling above their heads for the traditional air show.
From TV, it could have looked like a normal peak. chief. The soldiers walked in perfect formation. Later, a pre-prepared summit communiqué was released. But no one was under any illusion, one day after Trump declared that his meeting with Russian Vladimir Putin might seem easy compared to a summit with the long-time allies of the United States
. to demonstrate what he wanted his national and international audience to know that he really cared about him by throwing a few tweets about American farmers. "I'm in Brussels, but I'm still thinking of our farmers," Trump told NATO headquarters. "Soybeans dropped by 50% from 2012 until I was elected Farmers did badly for 15 years."
US soybean producers may be affected by fallout from Trump's trade war with China, after Beijing announced that it would levy 25% duty on US products, including soybeans, in China.
Ignoring the risk facing Midwestern farmers, Trump wrote, "I'm going to open things up, better than ever, but it can not go too fast, I'm fighting for a level playing field for our farmers. , and I will win! "
But that is the aggressive side of Trump against Germany that dominated the summit, even though the president dismissed it." We have a "terrific relationship" with Germany, Trump said at a bilateral meeting that the White House described as a "withdrawal from POTUS".
"We are going to have a good meeting and discuss spending military, we talk about trade. We have a very, very good relationship with the Chancellor. We have a wonderful relationship with Germany. You had a huge success and I congratulate you, a huge success, "Trump told reporters.
He and Merkel were sitting at least an arm's length away from each other on Separated sofas, without looking at each other, Trump continues: "And I think our business will increase and a lot of other things will increase. But we will see what happens in the next few months. "
For the moment, it seems that the entire transatlantic alliance holds its breath to see what is happening.
