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Politics and Government News
Krishnadev Calamur, NPR

Trump calls Trudeau 'two-faced'

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President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive Wednesday for a round table meeting for NATO leaders in Watford, England.
President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive Wednesday for a round table meeting for NATO leaders in Watford, England.
Evan Vucci | AP

President Trump has responded to a video that appeared to show Justin Trudeau and other world leaders mocking him, calling the Canadian prime minister "two-faced."

Trump's remarks follow the president's meeting Tuesday with the Canadian leader in which the two men appeared to get along, though Trump needled Trudeau over Canada's defense spending.

"Where are you at? What is your number?" Trump asked Trudeau during their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit outside London. Trudeau responded that Canada had, in fact, increased its spending on defense over the past few years. That did not appear to placate Trump who pressed on: "Where are you now in terms of your number?"

Canada, a NATO member, spends about 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense. Trump, and indeed past U.S. presidents, have urged the alliance's members to spend 2% or more on defense. At present, seven of NATO's 29 members have reached that target. The U.S. is by far the largest contributor to the alliance, which was set up during the Cold War to protect Western Europe from Russian and Eastern bloc aggression.

Later Tuesday, Trudeau was caught on video talking to French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. They appeared to be discussing Trump though he is never mentioned by name. The leaders seem unaware they are being recorded.

"He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference at the top," Trudeau said in a video posted to Twitter by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Trudeau is later heard saying: "You just watch his team's jaws drop to the floor."

Macron is also speaking in the video, but his words cannot be heard.

Trump's meeting with Macron on the sidelines of the NATO summit was also testy. As the president left for the summit, his administration had proposed tariffs of up to 100 percent on French imports, including wine and cheese.

When asked about Trump's comments on Wednesday, Trump responded: "Well, he's two-faced," but quickly added, "He's a nice guy."

"I find him to be a nice guy, but the truth is, I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2 percent, and I guess he's not very happy about it," he said. "I mean, you were there."

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.