President Trump scraps planned news conference to close NATO summit, returns home
More controversy at the NATO summit after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught gossiping about Trump's expansive press engagements at bilateral meetings; John Roberts reports.
After video surfaced of some of the world's top leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in London appearing to laugh at his expense, President Trump blamed the liberal media for its lack of focus on the alliance's professed message of unity, as well as a more optimistic outlook for NATO’s future.
“The Fake News Media is doing everything possible to belittle my VERY successful trip to London for NATO," Trump tweeted Wednesday. "I got along great with the NATO leaders, even getting them to pay $130 Billion a year more, & $400 Billion a year more in 3 years. No increase for U.S., only deep respect!”
On Wednesday, Trump -- who has been aiming to play the role of global statesman -- slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "two-faced" after a video leaked appearing to show Trudeau mock the president at NATO's 70th anniversary celebration.
In clips shared by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), Trudeau, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron -- once the American president’s closest European ally -- are seen with others, including Princess Anne, having a conversation at a reception at Buckingham Palace about a press conference earlier in the day.
The video went viral on social media, many assuming the world leaders were talking about Trump.
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Meanwhile, Trump has frequently criticized NATO members for falling short in doing their financial part when it comes to defense spending, which member nations have increased over the past three years under his presidency.
Looking to showcase foreign policy wins as he heads into an election year, Trump took credit for boosting the share of NATO nations that are meeting the alliance’s goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and sought to pressure more countries to increase their military budgets.
Leaders of the 29 NATO states met to mark the 70th anniversary of the military alliance -- and attempted to patch up differences over defense spending, the alliance’s strategic direction and member nation Turkey’s military action in northern Syria.
The two-day gathering ended with a show of unity, as the leaders declared their commitment to the security alliance’s principle of collective defense, saying in their final declaration that “an attack against one ally shall be considered an attack against us all.”
Dovetailing the American commitment, Trump later tweeted: ".@NATO has now recognized SPACE as an operational domain and the alliance is STRONGER for it. U.S. leadership ensures peace through strength and we must continue to show strength and WIN on all fronts – land, air, sea, and SPACE!"
On Wednesday, NATO member nations jointly declared space a "domain of operations" during the summit.
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"Today, we took a wide range of important decisions," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg immediately following the summit's conclusion. "We have declared space as the fifth operational domain for NATO, alongside land, air, sea and cyber."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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