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Macron snubs US arms in defence spat with Trump

Published

6 years ago

November 11, 2018

Europe should not spend higher defence budgets on US – made weapons , French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview due to air Sunday , after a defence row with President Donald Trump .One of dozens of world leaders attending World War I commemorations in France this weekend , Trump tweeted after landing in Paris that Macron ’ s call for a “ real European army ” was “ insulting ” .

In an interview recorded on Saturday with CNN after talks with Trump , Macron said the two leaders had spoken about what his office has portrayed as a misunderstanding .

“ We had a regular discussion this morning and he confirmed in front of the press that he was ok , ” Macron told CNN .
Both leaders agree there should be “ better burden – sharing within NATO” , meaning Europe should be less reliant on US spending for its defence , Macron said .

But Macron told CNN : “ To be very direct with you , what I don’ t want to see is European countries increasing the budget in defence in order to buy American and other arms or materials coming from your industry . ”

He added : “ If we increase our budget , it ’ s to build our autonomy . ”

Macron had last month criticised Belgium’ s decision to buy US – made F – 35 fighter jets instead of European planes , saying it “ goes against European interests ” .

He refrained from commenting on Trump ’ s “ insult ” tweet, beyond saying , “ I always prefer having direct discussions or answering questions than making my diplomacy through tweets . ”

In a radio interview this week , Macron had named the United States alongside China and Russia as sources of risk .

He said the EU needed to be less dependent on the United States , not least following Trump ’ s withdrawal from a Cold War- era nuclear treaty .

Trump on Friday called Macron ’ s comments “ very insulting ” . The French presidency later sought to defuse the row , saying Macron remarks had been misinterpreted .

– ‘ Cooperation is good” –

In his talks with the US leader Macron said he was merely arguing that Europe needed to take greater ownership of its own security, and Trump described the pair as “ very good friends ” .

Macron however told CNN that while he and Trump had things in common — notably their rise to power as outside candidates — their outlook on the world was very different .

“ I ’ m not a nationalist, which for me is very different from being a patriot . I do defend my people , I do defend my country , I do believe we have a strong identity , ” Macron said .

“ But I ’ m a strong believer in cooperation between the different peoples . And I ’ m a strong believer of the fact that this cooperation is good for everybody . ”

( AFP )