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Trump Challenges Macron: EU Army 'Didn't Work Too Well' in WWII

© AP Photo / Vadim GhirdaPeople wearing a Donald Trump mask, left, and an Emmanuel Macron mask act up for the cameras during an anti-Trump gathering in Republique square in Paris, Sunday Nov. 11, 2018
People wearing a Donald Trump mask, left, and an Emmanuel Macron mask act up for the cameras during an anti-Trump gathering in Republique square in Paris, Sunday Nov. 11, 2018 - Sputnik International
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Emmanuel Macron earlier voiced the idea of building a European military so that fellow EU nations could defend themselves from wide-ranging threats. The French leader subsequently came under fire from the White House, which called on him to pay his fair share of NATO membership.

Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to deliver a rebuke to Emmanuel Macron, chastising the French president's ideas of a pan-European army and divisive environmental policies.

Trump scolded Macron for his proposal to create a single European army so that Europe would have a greater military autonomy. The 45th POTUS has repeatedly claimed that many NATO members have not been dishing out enough cash for the alliance's needs.

"The idea of a European Military didn't work out too well in WWI or WWII. But the US was there for you, and always will be. All we ask is that you pay your fair share of NATO," he added.

This echoed Trump's previous criticism of Macron's proposed military reforms. The US President mocked France's WW2 record in mid-November, saying that Parisians were "starting to learn German in Paris before G.I. emerged in the European theatre.

Trump, on top of having withdrawn the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, also claimed that Macron's commitment to the environmental cause ignited ongoing large-scale protests against a fuel tax hike in France.

"People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment," he said.

Emmanuel Macron has found himself in the centre of public outrage after he proposed to increase the carbon tax, which would entail a rise in fuel prices. This triggered protests numbering in tens of thousands, which eventually forced him to scrap his plans.

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