French President Emmanuel Macron publicly interrupted Donald Trump to correct another of the US President’s falsehoods over Ukraine. The rare diplomatic rebuke that came Monday at the White House highlighted the underlying tensions in the two leaders' discussions despite their outwardly cordial tone.
It came as Trump claimed that European nations were merely loaning financial aid to Kyiv. “Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’re getting their money back,” Trump said, pressing his argument that US taxpayers would see no return.
Before he could continue, Macron swiftly intervened, physically reaching over to grab Trump’s arm in a pointed effort to set the record straight. “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid,” Macron insisted. “We paid 60 percent of the total effort. It was like the US: loans, guarantees, grants.”
During the talks, Macron also took aim at Trump’s remarks about frozen Russian assets in Europe, pushing back against the idea that they were being used as security for loans to Ukraine. “We have $230 billion in frozen assets in Europe, Russian assets. But this is not collateral of a loan because it is not our belonging. So they are frozen,” the French president stated.
Appearing to be unfazed by the interruption, Trump offered a dismissive response. “If you believe that, it’s OK with me. They get their money back, and we don’t. But now we do,” he said, without elaborating further. As the talks with the French president continued,...
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