JUDY WOODRUFF: It was intended to be a meeting to celebrate a critical military alliance.
But, as special correspondent Ryan Chilcote reports from London, it was instead divisions
on display.
RYAN CHILCOTE: NATO leaders may have been marching to the beat of different drummers
yesterday, but all 29 fell in line for this morning's group photo to mark the alliance's
70th anniversary.
Pretending NATO is a happy family was never going to be easy, though, after yesterday's
public airing of grievances and this private conversation caught on camera among the queen's
daughter and the leaders of the U.K., France, the Netherlands, and Canada, in which Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau appears to mock the president.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime Minister: He was late because he takes a 40-minute press
conference.
You just watched his team's jaws drop to the floor.
RYAN CHILCOTE: They may not been the only jaws to drop.
In yesterday's meeting, the president openly questioned whether NATO should defend countries
that don't pay their fair share on defense, while adding Canada was, in the president's
words, only semi-delinquent.
This afternoon, the president was asked about the candid moment during a meeting with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Well, he's two-faced.
And, honestly, with Trudeau, he's a nice guy.
I find him to be a very nice guy.
But the truth is that I called him out on the fact that he's not paying 2 percent, and
I guess he's not very happy about it.
RYAN CHILCOTE: Trudeau denied that.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I have had a number of good conversations with the president over the
course of this -- this day and yesterday.
I have a very good relationship with President Trump and his team.
This is a concern the United States legitimately has, that every country needs to step up in
different ways.
RYAN CHILCOTE: Two percent is the amount NATO countries committed to spend on their defense
and weapons, like this armored vehicle NATO has on display here back in 2014, when Russia
annexed Crimea.
NATO's 29-member countries have five more years to reach the target.
A handful of them already have.
Today, the president dined with them.
DONALD TRUMP: Eight countries, plus us, plus the United States, that are fully paid.
They met the goal of 2 percent.
We call them the 2 percenters.
RYAN CHILCOTE: Germany isn't a 2 percenter, but the German chancellor and President Trump
had a very civil conversation.
Trade did come up.
DONALD TRUMP: It's been a little tough for the United States.
We have had a very bad imbalance for many, many years, for -- for decades, actually.
And we're discussing that right now.
RYAN CHILCOTE: President Trump also had an unscheduled meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at which news cameras were not present.
After an October phone call, Mr. Trump announced a U.S. pullout from Northern Syria.
Turkey then invaded, and Mr. Trump threatened Erdogan with economic ruin if he went too
far.
Mr. Trump spoke later.
DONALD TRUMP: And we pulled our soldiers out.
We took over the oil.
We have soldiers where the oil is.
And that's the way I like it.
And they can police their own border.
And that's what they're doing.
They can use other countries if they want, if they want to spend the time and energy.
RYAN CHILCOTE: After two days and well over two hours of impromptu press conferences,
the president tweeted that he'd done enough and canceled a formal news conference.
As he left London, the White House press office released a triumphant video record of his
NATO trip, and the president wished everyone safe travels, and perhaps good riddance.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Ryan Chilcote in Watford, England.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And late today, as the president flew home to the U.S., he tweeted: "The fake
news media is doing everything possible to belittle my very successful trip to London
for NATO.
I got along great with the NATO leaders."