LONDON: President Donald Trump criticized Democrats at the opening of a NATO leaders’ meeting Tuesday, calling the impeachment push by his rivals “unpatriotic” and “a bad thing for our country.”
Trump, who commented while meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, is upset that Democrats scheduled an impeachment hearing while he is abroad.
The House Judiciary Committee has set a hearing on the constitutional grounds for Trump’s possible impeachment on Wednesday just before he wraps up two days of meetings with NATO alliance members in London.
“I think it’s very unpatriotic of the Democrats to put on a performance,” Trump said. “I think it’s a bad thing for our country.”
Trump isn’t the only one complaining. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and adviser Kellyanne Conway all have criticized the committee’s timing.
Trump insists he’s solely focused on scoring domestic and foreign policy wins, including making NATO members spend more on defense. But he’s often appeared consumed by the day-to-day battle against impeachment.
“I’m not even thinking about it,” Trump insisted anew Tuesday.
Before the trip to London, Trump slammed “Do Nothing Democrats” for scheduling the hearing during the NATO meeting as “Not nice!”
He also said that during the flight he had read a newly issued Republican-prepared report on impeachment that called his decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine “entirely prudent.”
Democrats contend Trump abused his presidential powers by holding up the aid to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, who had a seat on the board of Ukrainian energy company.
But Trump was adamant that the cloud of impeachment wasn’t undercutting his negotiating position on the international stage.
“I know most of the leaders,” Trump said. “I get along with them. It’s a hoax. The impeachment is a hoax. It’s turned out to be a hoax. It’s done for purely political gain. They’re going to see whether or not they can do something in 2020 because otherwise they’re going to lose.”
But even as he boasted of his relationships with NATO leaders, Trump rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron for recent comments that NATO was experiencing “brain death.” Macron argues that the US under Trump’s leadership has turned away from the alliance.
“Nobody needs NATO more than France,” said Trump, who himself in the past has questioned the long-term prospects of NATO because too few nations are on track to meet the alliance goal of spending at least 2% of GDP on their own defense by 2024. “You can’t just go around making statements like that about NATO. It’s very disrespectful.”
Trump also lashed out against France for a French digital service tax that he said unfairly discriminates against US tech companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. There is no direct effect on the United States from the French tax, which only applies to the tech companies’ revenues in France, not the United States.
Robert Lighthizer, the chief US trade representative, on Monday recommended $2.4 billion in new tariffs on French cheese, wine, and other products.
The blistering comments from Trump came hours before he was to meet Macron later Tuesday on the sidelines of the NATO meeting. It marked an abrupt turn in the once warm relationship between the two leaders.
Macron hosted Trump in France in 2017 for Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. Trump reciprocated by honoring Macron last year with the first state visit of a foreign leader during his time in the White House.
Macron, however, has criticized Trump for abruptly withdrawing most of the US troops in Syria in October without coordinating with France and other NATO allies.
Trump also took a break from the NATO meetings to raise money for reelection campaign while in London, attending a hotel fundraiser with Americans living abroad to benefit the Trump Victory fund, the joint account of his campaign and the Republican National Committee. The fundraiser is bringing in $3 million for the reelection effort, according to a Republican familiar with the event.
Trump also appeared to lower expectations before the Dec. 9 release of a Justice Department inspector general’s report into the origins of the Russia investigation that bedeviled his first years in office.
Responding to a report that the inspector general concluded that the probe was properly founded, Trump said he was more focused on a separate report being prepared by US Attorney John Durham, who was tapped by Attorney General Bill Barr to launch his own investigation.
“That’s the one that people are really waiting for,” Trump said.
Heather Conley, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the trip offered Trump an opportunity to highlight to voters back home that he’s making progress on a foreign policy issue. The president views it “as his own personal foreign-policy success” that NATO members have increased defense spending by $130 billion since 2016.
“The deficit for many, many years has been astronomical (between) the United States and Europe,” Trump boasted. “And I’m changing that, and I’m changing it very rapidly.”
However, in 2014 — before Trump was elected — NATO members agreed to move “toward” spending 2% of their gross domestic product on their own defense by 2024. In late June, Stoltenberg said that the majority of the NATO allies have plans to reach that goal.
Trump calls Democrats impeachment push ‘unpatriotic’
Trump calls Democrats impeachment push ‘unpatriotic’
- Trump insists he’s solely focused on scoring domestic and foreign policy wins, including making NATO members spend more on defense
- US President slammed “Do Nothing Democrats” for scheduling the hearing during the NATO meeting as “Not nice!”
US completes withdrawal from World Health Organization
- The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio
NEW YORK: The US has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday.
But it’s hardly a clean break.
The US owes about $280 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.
The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of US scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University.
“In my opinion, it’s the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime,” he said.
The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries; helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies and treatments; and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.
Nearly every country in the world is a member.
Trump cited COVID-19 in pulling US from WHO
US officials helped lead the WHO’s creation, and America has long been among the organization’s biggest donors, providing hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise.
On average, the US pays $111 million a year in member dues to the WHO and roughly $570 million more in annual voluntary contributions, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
In an executive order issued right after taking office, Trump said the US was withdrawing from WHO due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. He also cited the agency’s “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and its “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
WHO, like other public health organizations, made costly mistakes during the pandemic, including at one point advising people against wearing masks. It also asserted that COVID-19 wasn’t airborne, a stance it didn’t officially reverse until 2024.
Another Trump administration complaint: None of WHO’s chief executives — there have been nine since the organization was created in 1948 — have been Americans. Administration officials view that as unfair given how much the WHO relies on US financial contributions and on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel.
Public health experts say US exit will hobble responses to threats
Experts say the US exit could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.
Dr. Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the US withdrawal “shortsighted and misguided” and “scientifically reckless.”
The US has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures and technical working groups. That would seem to include the WHO group that assesses what flu strains are circulating and makes critical decisions about updating flu shots.
It also signals the US is no longer participating in global flu information-sharing that guides vaccine decisions.
Such disease intelligence has helped Americans be “at the front of the line” when new outbreaks occur and new vaccines and medicines are quickly needed to counteract them and save lives, Gostin said.
Trump administration officials say they already have public health relationships with many countries and are working to ensure direct sharing of that kind of information, rather than having WHO serve as a middleman. But US officials did not give specifics about how many such arrangements are in place.
Gostin, an expert on international public health treaties and collaborations, said it’s unlikely the US will reach agreements with more than a couple dozen countries.
Many emerging viruses are first spotted in China, but “is China going to sign a contract with the United States?” Gostin said. “Are countries in Africa going to do it? Are the countries Trump has slapped with a huge tariff going to send us their data? The claim is almost laughable.”
Gostin also believes Trump overstepped his authority in pulling out of WHO. The US joined the organization through an act of Congress and it is supposed to take an act of Congress to withdraw, he argued.
US still owes money, WHO says
The US is legally required to give notice one year in advance of withdrawal — which it did — but also to pay any outstanding financial obligations.
The US has not paid any of its dues for 2024 and 2025, leaving a balance of about $280 million at current exchange rates, according to WHO.
An administration official denied that requirement Thursday, saying the US had no obligation to pay prior to withdrawing as a member.
