US President Donald Trump did not appear particularly amused after learning what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allegedly had to say about him behind his back to other world leaders who were attending the Buckingham Palace NATO reception Tuesday evening.
During the event, Trudeau, along with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, was caught on hot mic apparently gossiping about Trump, though without mentioning the US president by name.
A video of the encounter features the trio apparently discussing why Macron was late, with Trudeau saying: “He was late because he takes a 40 minute press conference off the top", possibly referring to Trump's talks with media prior to his one-on-one meeting with the French president.
While Macron appeared to tell an anecdote about the encounter, Trudeau can also be heard saying "You just watched his team's jaw drop to the floor", though the exact context of this remark wasn't immediately clear.
When prompted by reporters about this development, Trump described Trudeau as "two-faced" in response, adding that the Canadian prime minister probably mocked him due to their disagreements over Canada's NATO membership fees.
"I find him to be a very nice guy but you know the truth is that I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2 per cent and I guess he's not very happy about it. He's not paying 2 per cent, and he should be paying 2 per cent. It's Canada. They have money", Trump said. "Look, I'm representing the US. And he should be paying more than he's paying. And he understands it. So I can imagine he's not that happy. But that's the way it is".
Meanwhile, Trudeau offered his own take on the aforementioned video, stating that he had a "great meeting" with Trump earlier.
"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 explained. "We were all surprised and I think pleased to learn that the next G7 will be at Camp David, I think that was an unscheduled announcement and... I think every different leader has teams who every now and then their jaws drop at unscheduled surprises, like that video itself for example."
