President Trump and President Macron of France (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
When Macron was elected French President I was prepared to give him some running room. Now, more than one debacle later, the fellow has worked his French countrymen up into a full scale snit. Macron is simply the wrong man for the job. And Marine Le Pen and her Rassemblement National party are now breathing down his neck. The right is on the move!
Bill Wirtz explains Macron’s blunder at The American Conservative, writing (abridged):
French President Macron says such a force may be needed to defend Europe against the U.S.
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently echoed French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the creation of a European army.
Earlier that week, Macron had said that an EU army was needed to “protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia, and even the United States.” President Trump reacted to the statement by tweeting:
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?
Former British ambassador to the U.S. Christopher Meyer tweeted in 2016: “Pigs will fly before the EU creates an army.
European states can barely scrape together the cash to fund their contribution to NATO.” “Barely” was an understatement. The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, liberated by the United States in World War II, only contributes 0.5 percent of its GDP to its military.
Yet in a twist on what Meyer said, countries that aren’t staying true to their NATO commitments are now suggesting yet another international agreement. Pigs have flown after all.
Read more here.
