Trump calls Trudeau ‘two-faced’ after PM’s candid comments caught on camera
Donald Trump called Justin Trudeau «two-faced» this morning, hours after the Canadian prime minister was caught seemingly venting about the U.S. president on camera as world leaders gathered in London for the NATO summit.
«I find him to be a nice guy, but the truth is, I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying two per cent and I guess he’s not very happy about it,» Trump, referring to the target for spending on defence, said during a media availability Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
«He’s two-faced.»
A misery-loves-company moment involving Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and the U.K.’s Boris Johnson, among others, has gone viral since being caught on video during a reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night.
The scene, captured by the host’s pool camera, showed Trudeau seemingly talking about Trump’s marathon media availabilities.
Johnson can be heard asking Macron, «is that why you were late.»
«He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference at the top,» Trudeau is recorded as saying.
Trump is not mentioned by name, but it’s now clear the video will provide fodder for more behind-the-scenes and in-front-of-the-camera drama.
On Wednesday morning, as leaders sat down for their first working session, Trudeau sought out Trump, and the two shook hands briefly, but exchanged few words.
A day earlier, Trump struck a different tone with Trudeau, telling journalists in a wide-ranging news conference that he’s confident Canada will boost its military spending, and jokingly called Canada «slightly delinquent» when it comes to meeting NATO’s target for spending.
The U.S. president clashed publicly with Macron on Tuesday during their extended news conference. The two disagreed over Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria and the French president’s description of NATO as being brain dead.
Prior to the summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his country would oppose a NATO plan to defend the Baltic states unless the alliance backed Turkey’s action against the Kurdish groups, which it considers terrorists.
It’s expected the leaders, who earlier Wednesday morning gathered for the annual family photo, will talk about everything from the fight against terrorism, to relationships with Russia and the rise of China.
For his part, Johnson is expected to remind NATO leaders behind closed doors that their commitment to defend one another is at the heart of the alliance they operate under a principle of «one for all, and all for one.»
.<a href=»https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@JustinTrudeau</a>, <a href=»https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@EmmanuelMacron</a>, <a href=»https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@BorisJohnson</a> and other VIPs shared a few words at a Buckingham Palace reception Tuesday. No one mentions <a href=»https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@realDonaldTrump</a> by name, but they seem to be discussing his lengthy impromptu press conferences from earlier in the day. (Video: Host Pool) <a href=»https://t.co/dVgj48rpOP»>pic.twitter.com/dVgj48rpOP</a>
—@PnPCBC
