PARIS _ French President Emmanuel Macron offered pomp and warm words to President Donald Trump in Paris Saturday but did not back down from comments he made this week that Trump called "very insulting."
Macron is one of Trump's closest friends on the world stage, but the rapport between two leaders appeared a bit frosty at times as they sat in the Elysee Palace to begin meetings and the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Macron set off the friction before Trump's arrival by telling Europe 1 radio that the European Union needs a "real army" so it could rely less on the United States, while criticizing Trump's vow to withdraw from the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty with Russia, a major arms control agreement from 1987.
Macron said separately in the interview that, when it comes to cybersecurity, France needed to "protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America."
Trump, perhaps melding the statements, responded on Twitter shortly before he landed in Paris Friday.
"President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia," Trump wrote. "Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!"
When Trump and Macron were asked about the comment, both spoke of warm cooperation between the two countries and the need for NATO countries to spend more on their own defense.
Macron made clear that he would continue to push his continental allies to spend more on a joint military, casting the proposal as a way to relieve the United States of the responsibility it assumed after World War II to help protect Europe from Russian aggression.
"It's unfair to have the European security today being assured just by the United States, and we need a much better burden sharing," Macron said. "That's why I do believe that we need more European capacities, more European defense, in order to take this part of the burden.
"When President Trump has to protect or to defend one of the states of the United States, he doesn't ask France or Germany, or another government of Europe to finance it," he said. "That's why I do believe that we need more investment."
The European Union has already increased spending and planning for more military cooperation.
Trump avoided discussing a joint European Union force, focusing instead on his persistent demand that European countries spend more on their own defense to help meet their commitments under the NATO military alliance.
"We're getting along from the standpoint of fairness, and I want it to be fair," he said.
The White House said Trump and his wife, Melania, canceled plans to attend a ceremony at the Ainse-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial because of bad weather.
Trump is scheduled to attend a luncheon Sunday with as many as 60 heads of state, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House has said Trump has no plans to meet with Putin beyond a greeting.
