Trump fumes at Macron over Greenland, Gaza peace board snub, threatens French wine tariff |
US President Donald Trump has made a series of online posts and comments apparently designed to humiliate allies France, Britain and Canada as the row over Greenland threatens to engulf the Davos forum, while also taking issue with Paris’s refusal to join his Gaza Board of Peace.
Trump on Tuesday released screen grabs of recent text conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Iran, Greenland and Syria, on his Truth Social app, amid the tirades.
Rutte told Trump, “What you accomplished today in Syria is incredible,” likely referring to a rather precarious ceasefire signed between Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Sunday.
Rutte promised Trump that he would highlight to the press at the World Economic Forum in Davos “your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.”
The Dutch politician also told Trump that he is “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland,” the Danish territory that the US president said he is determined to take control of.
“Can’t wait to see you,” the NATO chief added.
Macron told Trump in a text that they “are totally in line on Syria.”
He also said that “we can do great things on Iran,” without elaborating.
Turning to Greenland, Macron said he does not understand what Trump is trying to do with his focus on the island.
Macron offered a diplomatic initiative, in which he would gather the G7 leaders in Paris with the Ukrainians, Danish, Syrians, and Russians on the sidelines. He also invited Trump to dinner in Paris before the president returned to the US.
Trump also posted an altered picture of him meeting European leaders in the Oval Office — with a picture of not only the United States but Canada and Greenland covered in the stars and stripes.
The original........