Trump really lit into Germany this morning over their big gas deals with Russia. On the one hand he pointed out that they aren’t even paying their two percent for NATO defense spending.
But he also argued against the principle of the matter, pointing out that on the other hand NATO is supposed to be protecting Germany from Russia while Germany is making Russia richer with these big energy deals. Trump said that Germany is controlled by Russia, noting that Poland refuses gas from Russia because the don’t want to be controlled by Russia.
This is the longest clip I’ve found so far which includes the NATO Secretary General’s back and forth with Trump:
President Trump: "Germany is a captive of Russia."
Trump and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg discuss plans for the summit before a bilateral breakfast in Brussels. pic.twitter.com/KSNxXrjhqN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 11, 2018
Trump has definitely set the tone for the summit and ruffled some feathers in the process. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this summit with making such waves in the opening.