A new report about French President Emmanuel Macron described an unusual moment while he was visiting the United States and the American president had a complete meltdown.
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A Wall Street Journal report revealed the scrambling that unfolded as it appeared the U.S. was breaking up with Europe.
Macron made it clear to the leaders, “We are drawing a line here.”
The report described Europe as trying “to placate Trump with a mix of flattery and concessions on mutual-defense and trade issues, hoping to buy time.”
However, things had become so strained over Trump’s Greenland obsession that French soldiers were sent along with Danish special forces. Several European leaders commented that Trump appeared more interested in mining and mineral deals than in upholding the legendary relationship with Europe.
The Prime Minister of Belgium lamented that Europe risked becoming “a miserable slave” to the U.S.
It wasn’t long after new conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took over in Italy, before her falling out with the president. She tried to persuade the liberal leaders that Trump “could still be reasoned with,” those present recalled.
The Journal explained that, in its research, it was “able to review detailed notes taken by some participants as well as classified assessments that European intelligence agencies gave leaders struggling to navigate the new Washington.”
One of those from Southern Europe read: “You are not dealing with an administration that has processes; you are dealing with a single volatile individual.”
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Britain’s MI6 gave Prime Minister Keir Starmer a warning, saying that it was “‘The Crucible’ meets ‘Wolf Hall,’” a reference to two fictional works about the Salem Witch Trials and ill-tempered King Henry VII. It urged MI6 not to talk to the CIA about Trump.
It described a “succession of leaders” that came to the White House using the same talking points in an effort to “mold” Trump. During one such visit with Macron, the men were together for hours and Trump appeared open to his ideas until there was an outright meltdown in the Oval Office.
“They used a tablet to dial into a video call led by Justin Trudeau. But as the Canadian prime minister was talking, Trump, frustrated with a technical issue that prevented him from chiming in, lobbed the device over the Resolute Desk and onto the floor,” the Journal wrote of an official present at the time.
Another incident recalled the Slovenian prime minister cracking jokes with Trump.
“There was laughter in the room, but it masked deep anxiety,” said Rosen Zhelyazkov, the then-prime minister. “European leaders still clung to the belief that they could manage Donald Trump through diplomatic flattery and personal charm.”
When new PM Mark Carney took over in Canada, he disagreed, making a much stronger claim to European leaders, “the old America isn’t coming back.”
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