Senate

Schumer, Pelosi: Trump’s Germany comments an ’embarrassment’

by Jordain Carney - 07/11/18 10:10 AM ET

Congressional Democratic leadership blasted President Trump on Wednesday after he called Germany a “captive” of Russia, saying his comment at a NATO meeting “is an embarrassment.”

“President Trump’s brazen insults and denigration of one of America’s most steadfast allies, Germany, is an embarrassment. His behavior this morning is another profoundly disturbing signal that the president is more loyal to [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin than to our NATO allies,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement.

{mosads}Trump sparked a war of words with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after he said a gas pipeline deal with Russia made the country a “captive” to Moscow and urged NATO to assess the situation. Merkel fired back, saying that the country is “united in freedom.”

The NATO meeting in Brussels comes ahead of a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for early next week. The meeting has sparked concerns in Europe, as well as with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who worry Trump could end up making major concessions.

Schumer and Pelosi added on Wednesday that if Trump leaves the Putin meeting without “ironclad assurances and concrete steps toward a full cessation of Russian attacks on our democracy,” it will be a “failure” and a “grave step backward for the future of the international order and global security.”

“The president needs to remember that, as Commander-in-Chief, his duty is to protect the American people from foreign threats, not to sell out our democracy to Putin,” they added.

Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Nancy Pelosi