German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed Donald Trump in front of an audience of senior security officials in Munich, calling his administration’s suggestion that European autos are a threat to U.S. national security a “shock.”
In a pointed defense of multilateral institutions ahead of a speech by Mike Pence at the Munich Security Conference, the German leader called for global trade and cooperation. The biggest BMW plant is in South Carolina, she said, not in the carmaker’s homeland of Bavaria in southern Germany.
“Look, we’re proud of our cars,” Merkel said Saturday. “We’re allowed to be. And these cars are built in the United States of America.”
“If these cars, which are no less a threat than those built in Bavaria, are suddenly a national security threat to the U.S., then that’s a shock to us,” Merkel said, to loud applause.
Ivanka Trump, who was in attendance, did not look pleased:
Merkel calls out Trump in a speech, saying it "comes as a bit of a shock" to her that German cars may be named as a threat to American national security and points out South Carolina is the world's largest BMW factory, "not Bavaria!"
Watch the cut-away of Ivanka's face. pic.twitter.com/6WRVb6UfIo [1]
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) February 16, 2019 [2]
Twitter had some thoughts:
Why is Ivanka there again?
— Tom (@Diamandbacks) February 16, 2019 [3]
Ivanka thinks she’s at fashion week “where are the pretty shoes?” I guarantee you she doesn’t understand anything going on around her…
— Lexa (@ETxbloom) February 16, 2019 [4]
Priceless. The entire family is a waste of space. The sooner they're gone the better.
— Simon Wood (@SimonWood2k5) February 16, 2019 [5]
Priceless. The entire family is a waste of space. The sooner they're gone the better.
— Simon Wood (@SimonWood2k5) February 16, 2019 [5]
Why on earth did we pay to send that shoe saleswoman to represent the US for this. Why aren’t they all in jail yet?
— Renée Jacobs (@rjresist) February 16, 2019 [6]
Why on earth did we pay to send that shoe saleswoman to represent the US for this. Why aren’t they all in jail yet?
— Renée Jacobs (@rjresist) February 16, 2019 [6]