President Trump arrived in France Friday to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I and meet with world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron. Moments after landing, Trump tweeted an attack on Macron's recent proposal to create a "true European army."
NATO members are required to devote 2 percent of GDP to defense spending, but most do not keep that promise, which has long been a point of contention for Trump.
Macron argued in a radio interview Tuesday that Europe must "protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia, and even the United States of America." An unnamed senior French official told CNN Trump took Macron's words out of context, and that Macron will likely respond directly to the rebuke sometime Saturday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.