This is the moment Emmanuel Macron grabbed Donald Trump‘s arm and fact-checked him to his face.
The French President visited Washington for talks with Trump at the White House, where they discussed the war in Ukraine.
When Macron was asked if the US should be compensated for the money it has sent to Ukraine, the French leader said it was important Ukraine was be fully compensated for the war first.
Trump then piped up to say Europe is “loaning the money to Ukraine” and would be “getting their money back,” which the US president doesn’t believe America will.
But, in a glorious moment, Macron quickly grabbed Trump’s arm and fact-checked him, saying: “No, in fact. To be frank, we paid. We paid 60 per cent of the total effort.”
He said European nations provided “real money” just like the US had, through a combination of “loans, guarantees and grants.”
Macron went on to explain to Trump that the frozen Russian assets in Europe could potentially be used to compensate Europe if Russia agree to such terms during peace negotiations.
A peeved Trump then told journalists in attendance: “If you believe that, it’s okay with me.
“But they get their money back, we don’t, and now we do.”
Macron couldn’t help but interject “in fact we both do.”
During his visit to the White House, Macron said a truce between Ukraine and Russia could be agreed in the coming weeks, but he said any peace deal must “not be a surrender of Ukraine” and must be back by security guarantees.
But Trump said he wanted a ceasefire as soon as possible, and has called for the cost and burden of securing peace to be paid for by European nations, not just the US.
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