This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron sought to defuse tensions over comments both leaders had made this week, at the start of a weekend of events marking 100 years since the end of the first world war.

The US and French presidents worked to project unity of opinion over whether Europe should create an army of its own, but their meeting got off to a fractious start.

Trump says Macron's call for European army is 'insulting' Read more

Trump responded to his host as he arrived in France late on Friday, by tweeting that Europe should pay “its fair share of Nato”.

Macron’s office said Trump had misunderstood the French president’s comments. The leaders met on Saturday at the Élysée Palace and, asked about the tweet, Trump said Macron should “understand that the United States can only do so much,” adding that the US wanted to help. Trump said he and Macron were “getting along from the standpoint of fairness”.

Macron said: “I do share President Trump’s views that we need a much better burden sharing with Nato and that’s why I do believe that my proposal for a European defence [is] utterly consistent with that.”

An official in Macron’s office said Trump had combined two different comments by the French president, and that the comments would be on the table for Saturday’s meeting.

Macron said in an interview earlier this week that Europe needed to protect itself against “China, Russia and even the United States” in terms of cyberspace. Later, Macron reiterated that Europe needed to build up its own military because it could no longer depend on the US for defence.

Trump has made similar arguments, particularly in urging Nato’s European members to increase its share of defence spending.

Both leaders flashed a thumbs-up to waiting reporters outside the Élysée Palace but ignored questions about Macron’s remarks and Trump’s reaction. In comment before the leaders went behind closed doors for talks, Macron referred to Trump as “my good friend”.



Trump will join several other world leaders on Sunday for a ceremony in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war.

While in France, Trump and his wife, Melania, will also visit the American cemetery in Belleau on Saturday to pay respects to US soldiers who died on French soil during the first world war.