BRUSSELS, January 23. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump's decision to publish private messages exchanged with French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has "dismayed" European politicians and weakened trust in Washington, Politico reported.
According to the outlet, the leaking of the messages shocked Europeans more than Trump’s earlier threats over Greenland, pressuring Europe to back down - threats the US president later abandoned.
An anonymous European diplomat described Trump’s actions as unacceptable and said the episode would likely discourage leaders from communicating via messengers. "Now everything will go through layers of bureaucracy," the source told Politico.
European diplomats and officials fear that the erosion of trust between European leaders and Trump could have devastating consequences. One Politico source said that Trump’s threat to take control of Greenland by force had already "sent the [transatlantic] alliance into intensive care." "Now that the trust has gone, it’s not coming back. I feel the world has changed fundamentally," another diplomat told the newspaper.
Earlier, Trump posted screenshots on Truth Social of private messages he had received from Macron and Rutte. In the screenshots, the French president suggests hosting a G7 meeting in Paris and inviting Russia to take part, while Rutte praises Trump’s foreign policy.