French President Emmanuel Macron Corrected Trump For Falsely Saying Europe Is Giving A Loan To Ukraine
The meeting between the two leaders comes at a time when Trump is openly accusing Ukraine of starting the war.
French president Emmanuel Macron corrected US president Donald Trump when he shared false information on financial aid to Ukraine during a meeting at the White House.
On Monday, Feb. 24, during a meeting on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump said that European nations were only loaning money to Ukraine, which they would get their money back.
Macron then placed his hand on Trump’s arm, interrupted him mid-sentence and corrected him, saying, “No, in fact. To be frank, we paid. We paid 60% of the total effort.”
"It was like the US loans, guarantees, grants, and we provided real money, to be clear," Macron said.
Macron added that if there would be any repayment, it would come from Russia if negotiations were successful.
Trump then responded, "If you believe that, it's okay with me. But they get their money back. We don’t. And now we do. But you know, that’s only fair.”
Trump has often criticized US aid to Ukraine and has recently said that he is trying to recover the "billions of dollars" sent to Ukraine by securing rare Ukrainian minerals and resources in return.
During the press conference, both Trump and Macron hinted that the war in Ukraine will end soon.
Trump said the war could end "within weeks" and stressed that Europe should handle the financial responsibility of peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine.
However, Macron said that peace in Ukraine should not come at the expense of Ukraine being forced to “surrender.”
The meeting between the two leaders comes at a time when Trump is openly accusing Ukraine of starting the war.
He also called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” for not holding elections since 2019 but refused to give Russian president Putin the same label.
The US also, along with Russia, voted against condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine at the United Nations, marking a surprising turn from its long-standing policy.
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