Macron moves to ease row with Trump over EU defense

Bloomberg

French President Emmanuel Macron moved to smooth over ruffled relations with Donald Trump after the US president took offense at his proposal Europe create its own continental military force.
Macron received Trump at the Elysee Palace on Saturday in Paris ahead of a weekend of commemorations with world leaders to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
But while both leaders flashed thumbs up signs as they met, the first task was to deal with a public spat over Macron’s comments in a radio interview this week that a “strong and sovereign Europe” was needed to defend the continent’s interests against China, Russia and “even the US” Trump sent a tweet calling Macron’s proposal “very insulting” as the US president’s plane landed.
Macron moved quickly to defuse the disagreement, saying he agrees that Europe needs to do more to defend itself and that his efforts to create more common European Union defense initiatives were moves in that direction. “Our defense cooperation is very important,” Macron said. “I do share President Trump’s view we need much better burden sharing within NATO. And that’s why I do believe my proposal for European defense are really consistent with that.”
Trump responded in kind.
“I appreciate what you are saying about burden sharing. We know what my attitude has been, and we want a strong Europe — very important to us to have a strong Europe,” Trump said. “Whichever way we can do it the best and most efficient will be something that we both want.”
Trump has demanded that NATO countries spend more on their own defense and has questioned whether the US should remain in the alliance. Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have both publicly questioned whether Europe can depend on the US to come to its aid in the event of war. Macron noted that Trump doesn’t ask France or Germany to assure the defense of the US.
The French president has criticised Trump’s plan to
withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the US says Russia has violated. Europe is the “main victim” of Trump’s decision, Macron said in remarks made as he toured World War I battlefields ahead of the centenary of the November 11 armistice, according to the WSJ.
Trump and Macron also have extensive differences over trade and US sanctions on Iran.
However, Macron’s comments on stronger European defense cooperation were not intended to add to the points of contention. His stance is not new and he did not suggest that military forces should be directed against the US. And while greater European autonomy in all spheres is a focus for both Macron and Merkel, they are a long way from achieving it.
A French official suggested that Trump had conflated two separate issues. Macron has said Trump’s withdrawal from the INF treaty concerns Europe and threatens European security, and therefore Europe should be involved in that decision, but that’s a separate point from Europe’s need to create an autonomous military force, the official said.