Trump turns against Macron and his 'very nasty' attack on NATO

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron sparred in front of reporters over Turkey's future in NATO and other differences, hours after the U.S. president assailed his French counterpart for "very nasty" comments about the military alliance that's celebrating its 70th anniversary in London.

The exchange was a vivid display of the sour turn in the relationship between the two men, who were once close enough that Trump made Macron the guest of his first state dinner as president.

During remarks to reporters at a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Trump and Macron began by gently outlining their differing views on the alliance. But the conversation became more pointed after Trump invited Macron to take back Islamic State captives held by U.S.-allied forces in Syria.

"Would you like some nice ISIS fighters?" Trump asked. "I could give them to you, you could take every one you want."

"Let's be serious," Macron responded.

Trump has regularly complained that European countries refuse to accept the return of their citizens who joined Islamic State.

Then, after Macron forcefully criticized Turkey for a military offensive against Syrrian Kurds and for deploying a Russian-made air-defense system, Trump defended Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"They now are fighting against those who fight with us, who fought with us, shoulder to shoulder, against ISIS," Macron said of Turkey in English. He questioned whether Turkey could remain in NATO while fielding the Russian weapon system, called the S-400.

Trump, who effectively greenlit Turkey's Syria incursion by withdrawing U.S. forces from a region on Turkey's border, again blamed his predecessor Barack Obama for pushing Erdogan toward Moscow by allegedly refusing to sell Ankara the U.S. Patriot missile system.

"Turkey for a long period of time wanted very much to buy the Patriot system," Trump said. Obama, he said falsely, "wouldn't sell" it.

In truth, the Obama administration offered the weapon to Turkey repeatedly but Erdogan refused because the U.S. deal didn't include the Patriot's underlying technology.

Macron interjected.

"It's their own decision," he said of Turkey, adding that Europe had also offered to sell Erdogan an air-defense system. "Even having a European option, totally compliant with NATO. They decided not to be compliant with NATO."

Emerging Differences

Trump has in the past expressed admiration for the French leader, but differences have recently emerged between them over NATO's future and trade. On Monday, the U.S. said it would impose tariffs on France in retaliation for a new French tax on digital services provided by American technology companies.

Earlier in the day, Trump said Macron was "very disrespectful" when he warned recently of the "brain death" of NATO. The remarks were "very dangerous" and Trump said he could even envision France "breaking off."

"NATO serves a great purpose," the U.S. president said, adding that Macron's remarks were a "very, very nasty statement essentially to 28 countries."

It was a surprising turnaround from a president who has roiled previous NATO gatherings by questioning the purpose of the alliance and criticized allies for not paying enough into the pot. It also highlights a marked change in what was once Trump's most important relationship in Europe. At the last NATO summit, it was Germany's Angela Merkel who endured the verbal attacks.

Trump said again during his meeting with Macron that he wants the alliance's members to contribute more toward their own defense. He said he might "deal with them from a trade standpoint" if they don't.

Macron said that his statement about NATO "created some reaction" but that "I do stand by it. When you look at what NATO is and should be, first of all, this is a burden share."

At about the same time Trump criticized his NATO remarks, Macron announced from the south of France the state's new order of six sea patrol vessels, Agence France-Presse reported. "We are building a European maritime capacity," he said, "France has taken the lead."

Macron's Weakness

In truth, Macron has a lot on his plate back home - and Trump was quick to remind reporters of that fact. Train drivers, hospital porters and civil servants are planning strikes in France's major cities in protest at the president's plans to change the pension system. Yellow Vest activists are urging anyone with an ax to grind to join in.

"It's a very tough statement to make when you have such difficulty in France, you look at what's happened with the Yellow Vests, or you look at what's going on during certain parts of their season," Trump said. "They've had a very rough year and you just can't go around making statements like that about NATO. It's very disrespectful."

France is looking to shake up the military alliance created to provide collective security against the Soviet Union and called for a wholesale review of NATO's objectives at today's leaders' reunion.

Last week, Macron stood by his "brain-dead" comments and said he'd be satisfied if they served as "a wake-up call" to his allies. France has been pushing for Europe to build up its own defense capabilities and a more independent foreign policy, rather than relying on the U.S. and NATO.

The French leader has also alarmed European allies by declaring he wants improved relations with Vladimir Putin despite the aggression in Ukraine that has seen Russia excluded from global forums like the Group of Seven.

The criticism has left Trump in the unusual spot of defending NATO. At past NATO summits, he threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the pact and suggested his country might not abide by the mutual defense agreement at the heart of the alliance over frustrations other countries weren't spending more.

Trump said Tuesday he was encouraged that other members of the alliance had upped their defense spending closer to the target of at least 2% of each nations' gross domestic product: "We have increased the numbers the other countries are paying by $130 billion."

Trade War

The disagreement extends to trade, where a showdown could have long-lasting economic effects.

Trump defended his administration's threat to hit around $2.4 billion of French products with tariffs because of a dispute over taxing large technology companies, saying that if "anyone is going to take advantage of American companies, it's going to be us - not France."

Minutes later, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in Paris "we are counting on European solidarity on this. The French tax is not discriminatory."

France's government said earlier Tuesday the European Union would retaliate if the U.S. follows through on its tariff threat. Trump said at their meeting that he hoped he and Macron could reach a deal on the matter.

"I think we'll be able to work something out - I hope," Trump said. "They're American companies, the tech companies you're talking about. They're not my favorite people because they're not exactly for me, but that's OK. They're American companies."

"It's either going to work out or we'll work out some mutually beneficial tax," Trump said.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Monday that France's digital services tax - a levy that hits the revenues of large American tech companies including Google, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. - "discriminates against U.S. companies." The American tariffs would be imposed after a public comment period concludes in early 2020 and could target sparkling wine, cheeses, handbags and makeup.

Trump said earlier that tariffs hitting French or European products would ultimately be good for American companies, like Boeing Co.