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Trump Shoves NATO Leader Aside, Twitter Reacts: ‘Classy Leader Alert!’

The latest moment from President Donald Trump’s trip abroad to go viral is a brief video which appears to show Trump moving aside another NATO leader so he can be front and center in a photo.

The moment, which has been widely shared on social media, shows Trump putting his hand on Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, and stepping around the him before adjusting his jacket.

A number of social media users have criticized the president for the move, including filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who shared the video on Twitter with the caption, “A class act. A statesman. A real gentleman.”

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling mocked Trump, tweeting: “You tiny, tiny, tiny little man.”

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The shove came during a NATO summit at alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Thursday. The meeting is Trump’s first summit as President, alongside 27 other world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Washington Post’s White House bureau chief, Philip Rucker offered an explanation for the moment, writing on Twitter that the positioning for the photo was predetermined.

“Trump’s spot at center of photo was predetermined, based on NATO protocol. Alphabetical order. US always front/center, next to UK,” he wrote.

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Trump also made headlines at the summit when he chose not to reiterate the U.S.’s commitment to Article 5 — the mutual defense provision that has only been invoked once, after 9/11 — and criticized other NATO members for failing to meet the defense spending benchmark.

“Members of the alliance must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations,” Trump said, according to CNN. Under the terms of the NATO treaty, members must commit 2 percent of GDP to defense spending, a mark the majority of member nations do not meet.

“Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defense. This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States,” Trump said.

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See more reactions to the shove below:

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