President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “two-faced,” after an embarrassing video of Trudeau and other world leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and the UK’s Boris Johnson speaking at Buckingham Palace, was released.
When asked Wednesday what he thought of the video, Trump said Trudeau was “two-faced” and went on to suggest Trudeau was annoyed with Trump for pointing out that Canada was falling short on its NATO commitments.
In the video, the world leaders are heard talking about a long press conference and staff supposedly in disbelief with their boss.
No name was picked up by the pool camera that caught the moment, though it followed a press conference by American President Donald Trump.
In the video, Trudeau is seen making the comments and grinning with fellow statesmen in London’s Buckingham Palace while attending a NATO summit.
“He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top,” says Trudeau.
“You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”
The video was first posted by CBC, which suggested Trump was the subject of the conversation.
Earlier in the day, Trump had pressed Trudeau on Canada’s NATO defence spending commitment during a bilateral meeting.
During their press conference, Trump asked Trudeau to tell him exactly how much of its GDP Canada was spending, in relation to the NATO commitment of 2% of GDP. Trudeau was unable to provide a clear response.
“The number we talk about is 70% increase over these past few years,” said Trudeau.
When Trump asked for the exact figure, Trudeau looked towards his staff and was told by an aide that Canada was spending 1.4% of its GDP on defence. Trump has called on countries to live up to their commitments.
In reality, NATO predicts that Canada will spend a total of 1.31% of its GDP on defence this year.
Trump called Canada’s spending “slightly delinquent” but claimed that Canada would meet the goal “quickly.”
