Trump continued his spat with Canada after his abrupt after-the-fact withdrawal from G7 statement. He called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “very dishonest and weak” earlier. And he went further twitting today:
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday that “Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks … and we refrain particularly from ad hominem attacks when it comes to a close ally.” And she reiterated that the retaliation to US steel tariffs is on the way in measured and reciprocal way.
She added that “the position of our European allies, including Japan, is the same as ours. We coordinated very closely with the European Union, with Mexico, on our list of retaliatory measures and actions.”
German Merkel: We won’t let ourselves be ripped off again and again
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a TV interview that “the withdrawal, so to speak, via tweet is of course … sobering and a bit depressing.” But she maintained that EU is preparing counter-measures against US steel and aluminum tariffs and added “So we won’t let ourselves be ripped off again and again. Instead, we act then too.” Regarding the upcoming automobile tariffs, Merkel said “we’ll try and see if we can prevent this… and then hope that the EU will respond again in the same unity.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “in a matter of seconds, you can destroy trust with 280 Twitter characters.” Mass added that “we have to keep a cool head now and draw the right conclusions” and “Europe united is the answer to America First.”
Trump also singled out Germany in his twitter attacks.
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