A top European Union official mocked President Trump on Sunday with a tweet suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has incriminating information on Trump.
Guy Verhofstaft, the EU parliament’s representative in Brexit negotiations and a former prime minister of Belgium, shared a now-viral photo of German Chancellor Angela Merkel staring down President Trump during a meeting at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Quebec.
“Just tell us what Vladimir has on you,” Verhofstadt wrote. “Maybe we can help.”
“Just tell us what Vladimir has on you. Maybe we can help.” pic.twitter.com/DLc7YJFXqT
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) 10 June 2018
The photo, first posted Saturday by Merkel’s office, quickly went viral, with many social media users pointing out the apparent tension between the two leaders.
Verhofstadt’s tweet comes amid a tumultuous 24 hours since Trump’s departure from the G7 summit.
Though Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all seven leaders had signed onto a joint statement, Trump withdrew his support in a tweet criticizing Trudeau over the two leaders’ trade dispute.
After Trump left the summit, Trudeau in a news conference criticized the president’s tariffs on Canada, saying it was “insulting” that they were implemented on the basis of national security, and vowed to retaliate.
Trump and his aides have since engaged in a war of words with Canadian officials. The comments drawing the most attention came from Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro, who said there was “a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”