Donald Trump ignites diplomatic row with ‘nasty’ President Macron

Donald Trump has ignited a fresh diplomatic row with French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of “insulting” Nato allies.

The US president, in London for a two-day meeting of alliance leaders, said Mr Macron had been “very disrespectful” after he claimed the alliance was “brain dead”.

Mr Macron’s attack followed Turkey’s incursion against the Kurds in northern Syria without warning other Nato members – a move that alarmed other allies.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the US ambassador’s residence, Mr Trump said: “I think that is very insulting to a lot of different forces.

“It is a very, very nasty statement. I think they have a very high unemployment rate in France. France is not doing well economically at all.

“It is a very tough statement to make when you have such difficulty in France, when you look at what is going on with the yellow vests.

“They have had a very rough year. You just can’t go around making statements like that about Nato. It is very disrespectful.”