The White House justified the behavior of its president Donald Trump, who rudely pushed away the head of government of Montenegro Dusko Markovic during a group photograph of the leaders of NATO member countries. According to a statement by the American administration, US President Donald Trump followed the pattern of placing heads of member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, moving the Prime Minister of Montenegro. This is how the White House press secretary commented on this incident. Sean Spicer.
A video showing this mistake by the American president was posted on Twitter by a CNBC journalist. Steve Kopack.
The recording shows how US President Donald Trump, passing through a number of other participants of the summit in Brussels from behind them, practically pushes aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic, who is in his way. He, taken aback, looks around in bewilderment, however, when he sees Trump, he begins to smile and pat the American leader on the back. Donald Trump takes the place reserved for him and begins to talk with the President of Lithuania Daley Grybauskaite, straightening his jacket.
The White House press secretary, who accompanies Donald Trump, did not comment on this episode in detail, saying that he did not witness it and did not see the video footage.
"I didn't watch the video," Spicer explained.
However, the official representative of the US President emphasized that the layout of the leaders of NATO member states for their joint photo was approved in advance and American President Donald Trump did not try to take a better place.
The American media, especially those publications that can be called liberal and close to the Democratic Party, covered this episode negatively. For example, The Washington Post newspaper, in one of its materials, which was published in an electronic version at the end of the summit in Brussels, called the behavior of the US President a “national disgrace.”
Former American Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul also commented on the behavior of the American leader.
“It’s awkward. There is not much leadership in sight today,” he wrote on Twitter.
But the head of the government of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic, was not at all offended by Trump. He told reporters that he did not even notice how US President Donald Trump pushed him away before the start of a joint photo shoot at a meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels.
“I didn’t really pay attention until I saw the reaction on social media,” he said.
According to Markovich, it was a completely harmless situation.
“Today I had the wonderful opportunity to personally thank President Trump for his support and quick Senate ratification of Montenegro’s NATO accession protocol, for the United States’ comprehensive assistance in integrating Montenegro into NATO, and for the development of our bilateral relationship,” he said.
The Prime Minister of Montenegro also noted that “it is natural for the President of the United States to be in the front row.”
“He behaves arrogantly, it’s obvious. I pointed them to their place behind me,” noted users in in social networks.
“This gesture is the essence of American exceptionalism.” Exceptional rudeness…” they emphasize.
Some commentators, however, believe that this is just a game for the public.
“Trump is showing off, overacting. Posturing in pure form"- writes Andrey.
And Natalya jokingly asks: “What kind of rich man is doing this weird thing here?” And he notes that “Trump is a showman like never before.”
“And it seemed to me that there was no rudeness here, this is how any narcissist acts, in love with his beloved, he so wanted to get into the center of the frame, he was in a hurry and it turned out a little rude, but he immediately forgave himself and froze contentedly in beautiful pose! This is its smallest drawback in comparison with the attacks on Syria and other surprises,” writes Yulia.
Vladimir notes that “in general, this fragment is an example of refined servility and groveling, which in NATO for some reason is called partnership.”
Let us remind you that the new NATO headquarters building opened on Thursday as part of the NATO summit in Brussels. The total cost of the headquarters construction and relocation program is estimated at one billion euros. Earlier, American President Donald Trump said that he was impressed with the structure, but would not ask how much it cost.
Montenegro participated in a NATO summit for the first time since the accession agreement was ratified by all NATO member countries ahead of the final membership process on June 5.
CHISINAU, May 26 – Sputnik. US President Donald Trump, during a tour of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels, sharply pushed aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic, who was standing in front of him. The video depicting the incident sparked heated discussion on social media. The White house and the Montenegrin prime minister himself later commented, RIA Novosti reports.
On May 25, the US President participated in the NATO summit, which was held in Brussels. The American president was also shown the new headquarters of the alliance. During a kind of excursion, which was conducted by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump sharply pushed aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic, who was in front of him. Footage from the broadcast recording caused confusion among users.
The reaction on social networks forced the Prime Minister of Montenegro to comment on the embarrassing incident. According to him, Trump's gesture was completely "harmless" and standing in the front row was "natural" for the American president.
"I didn't really pay attention to it. I just saw the reactions on social media. It's just a harmless situation," Markovic told reporters.
Washington also commented on this situation. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he had not seen footage of the incident, but added that the positioning of NATO leaders for the photo was predetermined and suggested Trump was simply following the pattern of that arrangement.
Montenegro participated in a NATO summit for the first time since the accession agreement was ratified by all NATO member countries ahead of the final membership process on June 5.
Firstly, the alliance officially agreed to join the coalition to fight the Islamic State terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation, and a decision was also made to create an anti-terrorist unit. This decision was made at the initiative of Washington for two reasons: to show the unity of the alliance in the fight against terrorism and to present a platform for coordinating the actions of coalition participants. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that the alliance does not intend to participate in hostilities against terrorists, but as a member of the coalition will be able to participate in the political discussion of its participants, including on coordination and training.
The decision to create an intelligence-gathering unit as part of the fight against terrorism was made in order to improve the exchange of information among NATO members, including on foreign fighters. The Secretary General also decided to appoint a high-ranking NATO representative as coordinator for the implementation of the alliance's anti-terrorism plan.
Secondly, at the summit on May 25, the parties agreed to prepare national plans to increase defense spending. In them, member countries will indicate how they intend to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP, invest in key capabilities and participate in NATO operations. The first series of reports on the implementation of these plans will be ready by December, and in February 2018 they will be studied by the defense ministers of the alliance member countries.
By the way, don’t miss: Sputnik Moldova has active feeds V
However, we must not forget that Trump is an ordinary person who simply does not know the rules of diplomatic etiquette, an independent political analyst told Nation News Alexander Asafov.
Let us remind you that the US President found himself at the center of a political scandal during his first NATO summit. In order to stand in the front row among the politicians present, the US leader sharply pushed aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro Dusko Markovic. A little later, Washington officials called the incident a “harmless situation.” Markovich himself shares the same opinion.
“I didn’t really pay attention to it. I just saw the reactions on social media. This is just a harmless situation,” the Prime Minister of Montenegro emphasized.
“Trump, of course, did not very gracefully push away the Prime Minister of Montenegro at the NATO summit. But he only visibly showed its true place in the alliance,” Alexei Pushkov commented on the actions of the American President.
However, political consultant Alexander Asafov is confident that Donald Trump, due to his character, simply does not know the rules of diplomatic etiquette and therefore behaves like an ordinary person.
“Now the entire expert community and journalists are making Trump a character for people’s agricultural calendars. That is, they are trying to guess from Trump what this or that action of the new US president means. Roughly speaking, if Trump alienates Montenegrin at a short NATO summit and does not recognize the President of Lithuania, then whether this means a reduction in NATO spending or not, whether it will rain or not. But I wouldn’t recommend giving too much meaning to Trump’s eccentric actions, because when he does something, he doesn’t put any secret or any other meaning into it. He behaves like a person who has no experience in diplomatic etiquette. He behaves like an ordinary person. It’s just that in his three months as president, he hasn’t yet managed to get to know the numerous leaders of the participating countries, there are 28 of them, he simply doesn’t remember them all,” the political scientist explained the situation.
According to Asafov, Trump is an eccentric billionaire who is used to behaving this way. If someone bothers him, he moves him, if he doesn’t want to shake a woman’s hand, he doesn’t shake. At such moments, he does not know what actions others expect from the US leader.
“In the end, he won the election only because he behaved like a person, and not like a presidential candidate. As a person, he made promises that were understandable to people, not to diplomats. And this eccentricity and unpredictability actually plays into his hands. This means that you shouldn’t draw political conclusions from who he hugged, who he greeted, or who he patted on the shoulder. This has nothing to do with the US policy towards NATO. Trump does not give any signals, he simply behaves like an ordinary person with a peculiar level of upbringing,” the analyst continues.
The North Atlantic Alliance summit took place in Brussels last Thursday. NATO members discussed two issues: strengthening the organization's role in the fight against terrorism and equitable distribution of the financial burden among member countries. Trump and Markovic attended a NATO summit for the first time: the American leader only took office in January, and Montenegro only recently joined the alliance.
“The most important thing that was voiced during the summit was that the United States of America simply does not have a position on anti-Russian sanctions. This is important, this is the essence of this NATO summit. Even though he says Stoltenberg and so on. The point is that the United States does not yet have a position,” the political scientist concluded.
During the summit, Trump once again recalled that all Alliance members must pay a “fair share” of dues. According to the charter, all members of the organization must allocate at least two percent of their total expenses to the general budget, but in the last two years only five countries have fulfilled these obligations - the United States, Greece, Great Britain, Estonia and Poland.
Another topic of the summit was NATO's participation in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group banned in Russia 1 . The politicians agreed that the military bloc would join the international coalition, which is currently operating in Syria and Iraq under the leadership of the United States.
1 Terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation
The world media drew attention to the rudeness and tactlessness of US President Donald Trump towards the Prime Minister of Montenegro Dusko Markovic. During a tour of the new NATO headquarters, Trump unceremoniously pushed aside a Montenegrin politician who stood in front of him, and then calmly straightened his jacket and spoke to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.
According to The Washington Post video, the actions of the American president caused laughter among the journalists present at the meeting. Markovich himself turned around in bewilderment when Trump pushed him, but when he saw who it was, he smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
The ambiguity of the situation was given by the fact that for the Montenegrin leader the NATO summit, which ended on May 25, was a premiere. Markovic represented a country that is preparing to become a member of the alliance. In turn, the United States holds a leading position in NATO, and Trump has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Washington has to invest energy and resources in solving the problems of partners who take a consumer position. In addition, Montenegro's upcoming membership in the alliance is causing serious dissatisfaction in Russia, while Trump is suspected of inappropriately close relations with Moscow.
Let us recall that an extraordinary NATO summit ended in Brussels the day before, during which Washington’s proposal to redistribute the financial burden of ensuring the defense of alliance members and the entry of NATO states into the coalition to combat Middle Eastern terrorism was discussed.
Illustration copyright Getty Images Image caption In the official photograph from the summit, Trump stands between NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Theresa May
Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said that he did not even notice how US President Donald Trump pushed him away during the arrangement of politicians for a group photo at the NATO summit. A video of Trump pushing the Montenegrin prime minister was widely circulated on the Internet.
"I didn't even notice it. I just saw the reaction to it on social media. It's just a harmless situation," Markovich told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
I want to tell you that it is natural for the President of the United States to be in the front row. Dusko Markovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro
The footage shown by the world media and actively circulated on social networks shows how Trump makes his way among other guests of the NATO summit and at the same time rather unceremoniously pushes aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro, who was in his way. After this, the US President straightens his jacket and assumes a ceremonial pose.
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Trump pushes away Montenegro's prime ministerMarkovich himself urged not to pay attention to this episode.
“Today I had a unique opportunity to personally thank President Trump for his support, for the quick ratification of the protocol [on Montenegro’s accession to NATO] in the US Senate, and in general for US support for the integration of Montenegro into the alliance,” CBS quotes the Montenegrin prime minister as saying. .
“As journalists today are discussing this scene in every possible way, I want to tell you that it is natural for the President of the United States to be in the front row,” Markovich concluded.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in turn, said that the arrangement of politicians in front of the camera in accordance with the protocol was determined in advance, so Trump had to take his place.
At the same time, Spicer emphasized that he had not seen the video recording of the incident.
On Thursday, Donald Trump as President of the United States. Addressing alliance leaders, he said they must increase their defense spending to at least 2% of GDP, a commitment currently met by only five of the alliance's 28 members.
The Parliament of Montenegro approved the country's accession to NATO at the end of April. The protocol on its accession to the alliance was ratified by all 28 member countries and Montenegro itself. The country is due to join the alliance in June.
Illustration copyright NATO Image caption There was a separate program for the wives and partners of those present at the NATO summitAnother moment of the summit, which was heavily commented on on social networks, was the presence of the husband of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, in the official photograph of the wives of the summit leaders.
Luxembourg's "First Gentleman" Gautier Destinay took part in a program for the wives of leaders present at the summit. Social networks especially noted the dissatisfied expression on the face of the wife of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, who posed with Destenay for a group photo.
Destinay, an architect by profession, married the Prime Minister of Luxembourg in 2015.
