The News
European leaders moved to placate US President Donald Trump while taking steps to shore up the continent’s defenses as Washington retreats.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said ahead of a Washington trip that Trump had “changed the global conversation” for the better, but struck a contrasting tone by calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “barbaric” and reiterating that Britain was willing to deploy troops.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron spent a joint press conference “praising, flattering and gently cajoling” Trump, the BBC reported, but insisted that peace must not mean “surrender.”
Behind the scenes, a French official told The Daily Telegraph that Paris may move nuclear-armed aircraft into Germany to maintain a deterrent against Russia if the US withdraws.