NATO allies looked at Trump like an 'old uncle' who 'gets nuts' during wild rants: European diplomat

Many European diplomats were flabbergasted by President Donald Trump's wild rants against Germany and other key NATO allies during this week's NATO summit.

One European official tells Axios' Jonathan Swan that many allies simply had no idea how to react to some of the president's fact-free tirades against NATO countries, such as his declaration that alliance members should double the amount that they plan to spend on defense by 2024.

"Usual Trump: a stream of incoherent sentences," the official tells Swan. "The allies looked the other way as when the old uncle gets nuts."

The official nonetheless added, however, that the NATO summit went about "the best it could be considering the person" who is President of the United States.

Swan also writes that European allies were left "spinning" after Trump took credit for supposedly forcing NATO allies into agreeing to defense spending increases that they had already agreed to years ago.

"Nobody agreed to spend more than the previously agreed-upon 2 percent target," writes Swan. "Following Trump's remarks, French President Macron reiterated that the NATO members only agreed to the spending levels they'd previously agreed to in 2014."