Macron pushes back on Trump claims at White House meet, warns him to 'be careful'
LONDON -- French President Emmanuel Macron used his visit to the U.S. to publicly push back on President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on Ukraine, fact-checking his American counterpart in real-time and urging caution in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During their joint Oval Office appearance on Monday, Macron interrupted Trump when the latter said that Europe was being paid back 60% of the aid it contributed to Kyiv over the last three years of war.
Touching Trump's arm to interject, Macron said, "No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60% of the total effort: it was through, like the U.S., loans, guarantees, grants," Macron said. "And we provided real money, to be clear."
After Macron's comments, Trump smiled and replied, "If you believe that, it's okay with me."
In a Fox News interview that also aired on Monday, Macron warned Trump to "be careful" in the nascent U.S.-Russia talks intended to end Moscow's 3-year-old war, without the direct involvement of Ukraine or European allies.
"I think the arrival of President Trump is a game-changer," Macron said. "And I think he has the deterrence capacity of the U.S. to reengage with Russia."
"We want peace," the French president continued. "And I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one. But my message was to say be careful because we need something substantial for Ukraine."
Trump's repeated demands that Kyiv repay U.S. aid given since the beginning of Russia's invasion have strained American ties with Ukraine and with its European allies.
The White House has framed its proposed deal to secure access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian resources as part of Trump's push to recoup American wartime investment. Ukrainian officials said Monday that the deal is close to being finalized.
Trump said Monday he will soon meet with Zelenskyy, signaling the U.S. and Ukraine were "close" to a deal giving the U.S. access to profits from Ukraine's valuable mineral resources and that Zelenskyy would come to Washington to sign it.
"I will be meeting with President Zelenskyy. In fact, he may come this week or next week to sign the agreement," Trump said.
The president continued to focus on what he considers Ukraine's unfair approach to U.S. and American aid during Russia's war.
Trump again falsely claimed the U.S. has given Ukraine $350 billion during this period -- a figure publicly disputed by Zelenskyy. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates that the U.S. has committed about $119 billion. The majority -- $67 billion -- was in the form of military equipment.
The institute says that European nations -- meaning the European Union, the U.K., Iceland, Norway and Switzerland -- have collectively contributed around $138 billion to Ukraine, $65 billion of which was military equipment.
ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
