London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Trump cuts short Nato summit after fellow leaders' hot-mic video

US president cancels press conference after video captured group of leaders apparently ridiculing him

A furious Donald Trump cut short his attendance at the Nato summit in London after a group of leaders, including Boris Johnson, was caught on video ridiculing the US president at Buckingham Palace for staging lengthy press conferences.

The notoriously thin-skinned Trump cancelled a planned press conference and branded the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, “two-faced” after he was revealed on video leading the laughter at Trump’s expense together with other US allies.

Trump said the Canadian leader was probably angry because he called him out over Canada’s failure to meet the Nato target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence, a figure that has developed a shibboleth status in the president’s eyes and underlines his transactional approach to the western defence alliance.

Footage emerged late on Tuesday that appears to show world leaders joking about Trump at the summit, which has been marked by sharp disagreements over spending and future threats, including Turkey’s role in the alliance and China, as well as a clash of personalities that triggered a flurry of incendiary language being deployed by leaders.

The video shows leaders including Trudeau, Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and Princess Anne at the Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday evening.

In audio caught on a nearby microphone, Johnson asks Macron: “Is that why he was late?” before Trudeau interjects: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

Trudeau adds: “Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. He announced … ” before he is cut off by Macron, who speaks animatedly to the group. Macron’s back is to the camera and his words are inaudible.

After an edited cut in the film, the footage later shows an incredulous Trudeau telling the group: “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”

The US president was sitting alongside the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Wednesday when a reporter asked about Trudeau’s apparent remarks.

“Well, he’s two-faced,” Trump said of Trudeau, before going on to make a reference to the defence spending of Nato allies who commit less than the agreed 2% to defence.

“I find him to be a very nice guy but you know the truth is that I called him out the fact that he’s not paying 2% and I can see he’s not very happy about it. He’s not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. Canada – they have money.”

Apparently aware of how his actions would be interpreted, Trump was then himself caught on a hot mic saying: “Oh, and then you know what they’ll say. He didn’t do a press conference. He didn’t do a press conference. That was funny when I said the guy’s two-faced, you know that.”

The US president later tweeted: “When today’s meetings are over, I will be heading back to Washington … We won’t be doing a press conference at the close of Nato because we did so many over the past two days. Safe travels to all!”

On Wednesday evening he tweeted: “The Fake News Media is doing everything possible to belittle my VERY successful trip to London for NATO. I got along great with the NATO leaders, even getting them to pay $130 Billion a year more, & $400 Billion a year more in 3 years. No increase for U.S., only deep respect!”

Overall the episode is only likely to underline the sense that the supposed leader of the free world is privately viewed with a mixture of mirth and alarm.

Asked at his own press conference about the video footage, Johnson shook his head and said: “That’s complete nonsense. I don’t know where that’s come from.”

Pressed again, he said: “I really don’t know what’s being referred to there.” Johnson’s aides would not say whether he had seen the video, but claimed he had been “very busy” at the summit.

Privately Downing Street will be relieved that the unpredictable Trump did not face the international media again, fearing that under questioning he might rescind his commitment not to include the NHS in any future trade talks or repeat his criticisms of the terms of Johnson’s Brexit deal.

With Trump seen as electorally toxic in the UK in the final days of the election campaign, it is notable that few public images of the two men together have been released, despite the pair attending events at both Buckingham Palace and No 10 on Wednesday, as well as having their own bilateral meeting.

Johnson also sidestepped the opportunity to praise Trump personally when asked if he thought the president’s leadership was good for the west and for Britain, replying by praising the US as a nation.

Trudeau also tried to play down the laughter at the president’s expense. He said: “We had a great meeting yesterday between me and the president … Last night I made a reference to the fact there was an unscheduled press conference before my meeting with President Trump, I was happy to take part in it but it was certainly notable,” Trudeau said.

Trump had startled his aides on Monday by holding two lengthy impromptu freewheeling press conferences, one with the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, and another with President Macron. At the first he launched a tirade against Macron, calling the French president’s remarks that Nato was “brain dead” as “very, very nasty” and “insulting”.

At the second event, he was personally polite to Macron but clashed with him over France’s refusal to take back its foreign fighters from Syria, and then threatened trade sanctions against countries that did not reach the Nato defence target, so putting Germany in his sights.

Ironically until his abrupt walkout, Trump had shown a new relative warmth to Nato, claiming credit for the recent rise in European defence spending and praising the institution in the face of Macron’s criticisms. He even said: “There’s a great spirit. A lot of people are putting up a lot of money.”

The comments had marked a change of tone from sentiments he voiced at the outset of his presidency, when he dismissed the alliance as obsolescent and questioned the value of article 5, the collective defence clause that requires Nato members to come to each other’s military aid if under attack.

It is not the first time Trump has had a run-in with Trudeau. Last year he withdrew US support for a G7 declaration prepared for a summit in Charlevoix, Quebec. Trudeau’s hard work in preparing the communique unravelled after Trump, who left early, tweeted from Air Force One that Trudeau was “very dishonest and weak” following criticism from the prime minister of US steel and aluminium tariffs. As a result France at this year’s G7 tried to pare the communique down to a minimum.

Trump is due to chair the next G7 at Camp David next year. He had originally scheduled to hold the high security event at his Doral Miami resort in Florida, but agreed to shift the venue in wake of criticism that it was inappropriate to use his own property for such a purpose.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×