European leaders rebuff Theresa May’s offer to act as ‘bridge to Donald Trump’

London Independent
February 3, 2017

EU leaders appeared to rebuff Theresa May’s offer to be a “bridge to Donald Trump” within hours of her arriving at an informal summit in Malta.

Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and François Hollande, the French President, will “debrief” other EU leaders today with their own impressions of the new US President, it was announced.

The move immediately downplayed Ms May’s role in formulating an EU response to the Trump phenomenon – a role she hoped to take on, as the only leader to have met him face-to-face.

The Prime Minister believes her talks with Mr Trump – in particular, extracting his commitment to be “100 per cent behind Nato” – can strengthen her hand in the looming Brexit negotiations.

Meanwhile, Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian President, told the BBC: “I don’t think there is a necessity for a bridge – we communicate with the Americans on Twitter.”

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This article was posted: Friday, February 3, 2017 at 9:56 am






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