Fighting Trump's fire with fire
European leaders who have said harsh things about Donald Trump are trying to avoid open conflict ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara in early July. Czech Pres. Petr Pavel waved away questions from The Guardian about having said that, "Trump has done more to undermine the credibility of Nato over the last few weeks than Vladimir Putin has managed to do in many years." Pavel told the newspaper that he didn't think any direct criticism of the U.S. would help at this point. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had said in a classroom that the U.S. was being "humiliated" by the Iranian leadership due to its lack of a clear exit strategy in the Iran war, has also tried to defuse the situation. But what if Trump arrives in Ankara looking for a fight? His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has already signaled that there are things that need to be "cleared up and fixed." If push came to shove, Pavel, Merz, Canadian PM Mark Carney and Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez would no doubt be ready to push back. But Andrej Babiš?
Glossary of difficult words
to fight fire with fire - to respond to an attack or to defeat an opponent by using the same methods, weapons or tactics;
to defuse - to make (a situation) less tense or dangerous;
if/when push comes to shove - if things do not go as planned and a definitive decision must be made or drastic action must be taken;
to push back - to resist, oppose or disagree with a person's actions, decisions or criticisms.