German Chancellor Angela Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Tuesday for an integrated European Union military, recalling the lessons of the First World War and the divisions that led to the conflict.
"We should work on a vision of one day establishing a real European army," Merkel told the European Parliament during a keynote speech in which she consciously echoed a phrase used by French President Emmanuel Macron last week.
Macron's call, which reflects a broad trend of EU thinking but is not universally accepted, irritated U.S. President Donald Trump.
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said it had no comment to make after U.S. President Donald Trump sent a series of messages on Twitter on Tuesday criticising Macron and France.In a flurry of early morning tweets, Trump mocked Macron for comments about European defence, said Macron was highly unpopular, that French trading practices were unfair and that the country's economy was in the doldrums.Asked to comment, the office of the French President said it had nothing to say about the tweets, but added that Macron had made his points about a European army and European defence very clear to Trump during talks they held on Saturday in Paris. Trump criticizes Macron, says ‘make France great again’
President Macron's office says 'no comment' after Trump Twitter attack
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron after underlining France’s efforts to build a European army in a series of Twitter posts and said, “They- French people- were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”"MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!" he wrote.......MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 Kasım 2018 Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 Kasım 2018 'Low approval rating'He also slammed Emmanuel Macron's "low approval rating" by calling France as the most nationalist country in the world."By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!"The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%. He was just trying to get onto another subject. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!........— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 Kasım 2018 President Macron's office says 'no comment' after Trump Twitter attack
Trump criticizes Macron, says ‘make France great again’