Trump appears to shove Montenegro PM at NATO meet
Meeting in Brussels, president seems to roughly move aside ally to get ahead of a group of leaders
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US President Donald Trump appeared to shove aside a NATO ally to get to the front of the pack of a group of leaders walking together in Brussels on Thursday, in a moment that was caught on camera and widely shared on social media.
The camera focuses on the group walking slowly as Trump appears to suddenly shove Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro aside to get ahead, and then comes to a complete stop while standing tall and fixing his jacket.
Markovic turns to Trump, naturally, and smiles hesitantly but the US president does not look at him.
The act was being widely denounced online.
Trump was meeting fellow NATO leaders for the first time on Thursday and in a speech challenged them to spend more on their own defense, putting the alliance under pressure to become tougher, sharper and newly relevant.
Awkward moment when Pres. Trump appears to push the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of the way at NATO conference. https://t.co/GKrsujUUr8 pic.twitter.com/PSc8dkIDBV
— ABC News (@ABC) May 25, 2017
The 27 other leaders looked on in awkward silence as Trump suggested most NATO countries were freeloaders not paying their share for military protection. The other leaders are divided over his spending demands, as well as over how much intelligence to share with Trump’s troubled administration.
The rebuke was being criticized by opponents.
The Times of Israel Community.