President Donald Trump has abruptly pulled out of a planned press conference at the NATO leaders' meeting in London after a video emerged showing fellow world leaders appearing to mock him on Tuesday evening.
Trump's team did not confirm the reason for cancelling the appearance, which was set to close the event at a country hotel to the north of London, however a State Department official on site confirmed to Newsweek it would not be happening.
The president suggested he would leave the event early during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump told reporters he would "probably" head "directly back... I think we've done plenty of press conferences."
He followed up with a tweet explaining his decision. "When today's meetings are over, I will be heading back to Washington. We won't be doing a press conference at the close of NATO because we did so many over the past two days. Safe travels to all!"
....When today’s meetings are over, I will be heading back to Washington. We won’t be doing a press conference at the close of NATO because we did so many over the past two days. Safe travels to all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2019
The early departure closes two turbulent days for the president, during which he engaged in spats with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The falling out with Trudeau came after a video emerged of the Canadian leader appearing to joke about Trump with Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening.
The video, published by CBC, showed the leaders apparently joking about Trump and blaming his bombastic Tuesday press conferences for arriving late to the event. At one point, Trudeau told fellow leaders he saw Trump's aides' "jaws drop to the floor" while the president was speaking.
Reacting on Wednesday, Trump told reporters, "He's two-faced," referring to Trudeau, with whom he has quarreled before. "And honestly with Trudeau he's a nice guy, I find him to be a very nice guy."
Trump continued, "The truth is that I called him out on the fact that he is not paying 2 percent," referring to the commitment by all NATO states to spend 2 percent of their GDPs on military investments by 2024. "And I guess he's not very happy about it," the president added.
"I can imagine he's not that happy but that's the way it is," Trump said.
The president also lashed out at Macron soon after arriving in London on Tuesday, responding to his French counterpart's assertion that NATO is experiencing "brain death" due to diverging priorities among members.
Trump—a long time critic of the alliance—said Macron's comments were "insulting" and "very, very nasty." The president suggested that France is in no position to criticize the bloc, citing economic difficulties and ongoing anti-government protests.
Trump announced his decision to leave the meeting early just as Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg lauded the "iron clad" unity of NATO. Stoltenberg said that it was normal for a diverse group of 29 nations to have disagreements, but claimed, "Most of the time we agree and we reach common conclusions."
