Vice President Mike Pence received an icy response from world leaders at the Munich Security Conference Saturday, as he made clear his aim for the weekend was to promote his President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda. The vice president began his remarks by telling world leaders, "I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump"—and was met with a long silence before describing Trump's accomplishments as "extraordinary" and "remarkable." Addressing U.S. allies at the Munich Security Conference, Mike Pence is met with silence as he tells the audience: "I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/yr7SNVhCVf — Axios (@axios) February 16, 2019 Pence appears to have mistaken Munich audience for Trump tribute dinner — Susan Glasser (@sbg1) February 16, 2019 In addition to heaping praise on the president, Pence chastised European and Asian leaders for remaining in compliance with the Iran nuclear deal and called on them to join the U.S. in recognizing Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela, weeks after the right-wing opposition leader declared himself the head of the country despite President Nicolas Maduro winning re-election last May. Pence urged the E.U. to "step forward for freedom" by recognizing Guaido as president. US Vice President Mike Pence calls on the European Union to recognise Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s president pic.twitter.com/F5nJCiuGGB — TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) February 16, 2019 Millions of Venezuelans in recent days have signed an open letter rejecting the United States' attempt to intervene and pressure the country and international community to recognize Guaido. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Never Miss a Beat. Get our best delivered to your inbox. Slamming European countries for "undermining U.S. sanctions" by staying in the painstakingly-reached Iran nuclear deal, Pence called on world leaders to turn away from Iran while accusing the country of antisemitism. "The Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and it seeks the means to achieve it," said Pence. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called Pence's accusation "laughable." "Iran has always supported the Jews," he told Der Spiegel. "We are just against Zionists." "Iran's historic and cultural record of coexistence and respect for divine religions, particularly Judaism, is recorded in reliable historic documents of various nations," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi added in a statement. "The principle that underlies our foreign policy is the aggressive and occupying nature of the Zionist regime [Israel] … which is a killing machine against the Palestinian people," he said. Regarding Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also addressed the conference, defending the decision of Germany and other European nations to stay in the nuclear agreement and observing the Trump administration's isolation in the debate over the deal. Merkel has observed "the Europeans on one side and the Americans on the other side," she said—a dynamic which was illustrated by the conference's reception of the vice president.<doc-sep>The White House claimed that world leaders applauded Vice President Mike Pence when he dropped the name of President Donald Trump into a speech, but videos of the address show a different story. Pence was speaking at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend when he passed along greetings from Trump to European and Asian government leaders. He paused for several seconds for cheers, but the crowd remained silent. A video clip of the exchange went viral on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, on Saturday afternoon. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tweeted that he was at the conference when Pence was speaking, and "the silence was defeaning." But the White House claimed that the vice president received applause after mentioning Trump. The administration published a transcript of Pence's remarks in which it specifically wrote that the statement was followed by "(Applause)." The White House's transcript also differs slightly from the speech Pence gave at the conference, which was recorded by news outlets. In the televised address, Pence told the crowd: "I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump." But the White House account had Pence saying: "To them and to all of you, it's my great honor to speak to you today, on behalf of a champion of freedom and a champion of a strong national defense, the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause)." The vice president was at the conference to attend the inaugural John McCain Dissertation Award Ceremony, which paid tribute to the late senator who died in August 2018 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. In his speech, Pence hit back at some of America's closest allies over their relationships with Iran and Venezuela, calling on foreign leaders to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and requesting that they join the U.S. in recognizing Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela instead of Nicolas Maduro. Pence also took several opportunities to tout Trump's presidency as "remarkable" and his administration's foreign policies as "extraordinary." "And so, under President Donald Trump's leadership, America is leading the free world once again," Pence said. "Thank you for the honor of participating in this important event. And thank you for this opportunity to reflect on the progress that we've made and the ties that unite freedom-loving people everywhere."<doc-sep>President Donald Trump isn’t exactly the most popular person among America’s European allies, though Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t seem to have expected that. Addressing America’s allies in a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Pence offered a standard applause line and gave those listening a chance to do just that. “I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump,” Pence said to the attendees. Pence then paused, presumably for the audience to clap, and was greeted with a lengthy silence. The Vice President attended the annual security conference in Germany with a bipartisan delegation, which included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The awkward moment highlights what has become an increasingly fraught relationship between the United States and its European allies. Many at the conference were rattled by the Vice President’s demand that France, Germany and the U.K. withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. During the conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the Iran deal and said the division between Europe and the U.S. on it “depresses me very much.” Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.<doc-sep>Vice President Pence was met with silence on Friday when he mentioned President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE at a security conference in Munich. “I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, Donald Trump,” Pence said, before being met with a lengthy silence. Pence traveled to Germany this week for the annual Munich Security Conference along with a bipartisan delegation, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiGOP leaders face new calls to boot Greene Biden, Bass press for police reform after meeting Floyd family Kinzinger calls for Greene to be removed from GOP conference after Holocaust remark MORE (D-Calif.) and Sens. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamSenators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission Police reform fight hinges on qualified immunity On The Money: White House counters with .7 trillion infrastructure proposal, GOP unimpressed | USDA to start loan forgiveness for thousands of minority farmers MORE (R-S.C.), Christopher Coons Chris Andrew CoonsThe Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Uber - One year later — has George Floyd's killing changed the world? Democrats worry Jan. 6 probe could divert their agenda The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Israel-Hamas carnage worsens; Dems face SALT dilemma MORE (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon WhitehouseDemocrats: Roe v. Wade blow would fuel expanding Supreme Court Helping students make informed decisions on college Lawmakers bicker over how to go after tax cheats MORE (D-R.I.). The vice president spoke at an award ceremony on Friday for the first recipients of a scholarship commemorating the late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainHannity tells Santorum he helped prevent Joy Reid from being fired Richard Hanania sees Trump as 2024 GOP nominee Why Republican politicians are sticking with Trump MORE (R-Ariz.), who attended the conference numerous times. In remarks on Friday, Pence knocked NATO allies who he said "still need to do more." ADVERTISEMENT "The United States expects every NATO member to put in place a credible plan to meet the 2 percent threshold. And, by 2024, we expect all our allies to invest 20 percent of defense spending on procurement," he said. NATO members agreed in 2014 to move toward spending at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. The Trump administration has been openly critical of NATO, arguing that the U.S. contributes disproportionately to fund the group and, subsequently, protecting other countries that pay less. Members contribute toward defense spending in their respective budgets to fund NATO. The New York Times reported last month that Trump indicated multiple times last year that he wanted the U.S. to withdraw from NATO. Pence on Friday also blasted China and Russia in front of delegations from both countries “Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States has also made it clear that China must address the longstanding issues of intellectual-property theft, forced technology transfer, and other structural issues in China that have placed a burden on our economy and on economies around the world,” he said. Pence later noted the U.S.'s move to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The decision to withdraw has triggered questions about the potential impact on European security and the global strategic environment amid weakened U.S.–Russia relations.<doc-sep>
Vice President Mike Pence left room for applause. But no one clapped. At a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Pence mentioned President Donald Trump, noting he was there “on behalf of a champion of freedom and of a strong national defense.” The vice president went on: “I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump.” Pence then paused for applause but no one in the room clapped. After what seem like a very long five seconds, Pence continues with his speech. Addressing U.S. allies at the Munich Security Conference, Mike Pence is met with silence as he tells the audience: "I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/yr7SNVhCVf — Axios (@axios) February 16, 2019 In a copy of Pence’s prepared remarks that were published on the White House’s website, there is parenthetical note of “applause” after those words. The prepared remarks also mention “applause” after Pence introduces Sen. Lindsey Graham, which he did receive. The vice president was also supposed to introduce House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (and wait for her applause) but he ended up skipping that introduction. The silence when Trump’s name was uttered was partly a reflection of how the conference in Munich put on display just how divided Europe is from Washington under Trump. “No one any longer believes that Trump cares about the views or interests of the allies,” a senior German official told the New York Times. “It’s broken.”