Germany can take President Donald Trump’s criticisms in its stride, the country’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told CNBC Wednesday.
Trump kicked off this week’s NATO summit with scathing words for Europe’s economic powerhouse, calling it “captive” to Russia over its plans for a $11 billion gas pipeline that would connect the two countries and increase Germany’s reliance on Russian energy supply.
“I think we can cope with it,” von der Leyen said in response to the berating from the U.S. president, speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium.
“If we look at the gas pipeline, Germany is an independent country where energy supply is concerned, we diversify, but the main overarching topic is the summit — we want a summit that sends out the message of unity.”
