The President of the United States Of America, President Donald Trump has reportedly fired back at French President Emmanuel Macron on his recent comments that the NATO alliance is experiencing “brain death” saying such comment is very insulting to the military alliance of other 28 members.
According to the report by Associated Press (AP), the controversial U.S President, Trump blast Macron with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by his side and called his comments “very nasty.”
The report said French President, Macron had said that the NATO alliance was experiencing “brain death” in an interview with The Economist published last month, suggesting that the alliance was becoming obsolete.
“Nobody needs NATO more than France,” Trump was reported to have said.
Trump has repeatedly criticized fellow NATO members and complained that too few nations are on track to meet the NATO alliance goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024.
Trump also lashed out at France for a digital service tax that he said unfairly discriminates against U.S. tech companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.
Robert Lighthizer, the chief U.S. trade representative, on Monday recommended the U.S. respond with $2.4 billion in new tariffs on French cheese, wine and other products.
Trump is scheduled to meet Macron later Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO Alliance summit.
Also, the report added that Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he still will not agree to a NATO defence proposal for Poland and the Baltic nations until the NATO alliance supports Ankara’s concerns related to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Before departing to attend a NATO leaders’ summit in London, Erdogan said he would discuss the issue with the leaders of Poland and the Baltics during the gathering that marks the alliance’s 70th birthday.
A plan to defend the Baltic nations in case of a Russian attack requires all member states’ backing.
Turkey has accused NATO allies of backing Baltic countries’ security concerns but dismissing threats to Turkey from the Kurdish fighters.
Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters to be terrorists and invaded parts of northeast Syria to drive them away from its border.