The following article by Rebecca Tan was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2018:
President Trump slammed Germany on July 11, over a gas pipeline deal with Russia. He said the country is now “captive to Russia.” (Reuters)
President Trump kicked off his trip to Europe with a biting critique of the United States’ longtime allies, declaring at a breakfast meeting that Germany “is captive to Russia.” Next to him, three of his senior officials seemed uncomfortable at times, pursing their lips and glancing away from the table.
Trump is in Brussels for the 29th annual NATO summit, where he is meeting, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His charge that Germany is captive to Russia comes days before he is scheduled to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a one-on-one that he has described as the “easiest” of his meetings this week.
In the clip shown above, Trump begins by citing German imports of Russian gas as evidence that “Germany is totally controlled by Russia.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remains stoic as Trump lays out his complaint, but U.S. ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly look uncomfortable. Hutchison appears to avert her gaze from her NATO colleagues sitting across from her, while Kelly looks down, then shifts his body and glances away, lips pursed tightly.
View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.