President Donald Trump has responded to a video that appeared to show Justin Trudeau and other world leaders mocking him at the NATO summit in London. At the same time, Trump said he would cancel the final scheduled NATO press conference.
“He’s two-faced,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday, a day after the hot-mic video surfaced. “I find him to be a very nice guy but the truth is I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying 2 percent [on Canada’s defense budget] and I guess he’s not very happy about it.”
Trump added, “He’s not paying 2 percent and he should be paying 2 percent. It’s Canada, they have money and they should be paying 2 percent. So I called him out on that and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about it but that’s the way it is.”
He made the remark while speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the 2019 NATO summit in London.
“Look, I’m representing the U.S. and he should be paying more than he’s paying. And he understands it. So I can imagine he’s not that happy. But that’s the way it is,” President Trump remarked.
“I canceled the news conference. I’ve done so many,” Trump also told reporters.
Late on Tuesday, a video surfaced, allegedly showing French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Trudeau discussing Trump’s press conference with NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.
“You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor,” Trudeau also apparently says in the clip. It’s also not clear which team he was referring to.
“Just slightly delinquent. But, no, some are major delinquent. Some are way below 1 percent and that’s unacceptable. And then if something happens, we’re supposed to protect them and it’s not really fair,” Trump continued.