US President Donald Trump has called Justin Trudeau “two-faced” over a video in which the Canadian leader appears to mock him at a meeting of Nato leaders.
Footage showed Mr Trudeau, UK PM Boris Johnson and French leader Emmanuel Macron discussing an impromptu press conference held by Mr Trump.
Nato leaders agreed a statement of unity but the 70th anniversary meeting held near London also saw several rows.
Mr Trump cancelled a press conference planned for after the summit.
He told reporters: “We’ll go directly back. I think we’ve done plenty of news conferences.”
The brief video posted on Twitter by Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, showed Mr Trudeau chatting with a group of leaders, including Mr Johnson, Mr Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Queen Elizabeth’s daughter Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.
At the start of the footage, Mr Johnson asked Mr Macron: “Is that why you were late?”
Mr Trudeau then interjects: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”
Mr Macron then appears to tell an anecdote, but his words are drowned out by background noise. An amused Mr Trudeau then replies: “Oh yeah, yeah, he announced… [inaudible]. You just watched his team’s jaw drop to the floor.”
None of them appeared to realise they were being recorded.
In response, Mr Trump said of Mr Trudeau: “He’s two-faced… I find him to be a nice guy, but the truth is I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying 2% [of national GDP towards defence] and I guess he’s not very happy about it.
“He’s not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. Canada – they have money. Look, I’m representing the US and he should be paying more than he’s paying, he understands it… I can imagine he’s not that happy but that’s the way it is.”
Asked about the video, Mr Johnson told reporters: “It’s complete nonsense. I don’t know where that’s come from.”
Mr Trudeau later told reporters that they hadn’t been laughing about Mr Trump’s press conference, but about the location of the next G7 summit – Camp David, the US presidential country retreat.
“I have a very good relationship with Trump,” he added. (BBC)
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