Canada’s 10-year defence plan billed as answer to U.S. spending call
BRUSSELS— U.S. President Donald Trump boasted Thursday of singlehandedly winning commitments from his fellow NATO leaders to meet and exceed a defence spending target of 2 per cent of GDP — even though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke only of continuing with Canada’s existing military plan.
At a news conference wrapping up the two-day NATO summit in Brussels, Trudeau was pressed to provide more details about Trump’s sudden insistence that allies have agreed to spend more — and to do it more quickly.
Trudeau said he did agree to uphold Canada’s commitment to the 2014 Wales NATO summit pledge on defence investment, but took pains to point out the declaration technically states allies would merely “aim to move towards” the 2-percent guideline within a decade.
“Leading up to 2014 and the Wales conference, NATO coun- tries had been under-investing in their military and declining in their military and defence investments — including, unfortunately, in Canada,” he said.
“There was a commitment to reverse that declining investment and start moving toward 2 per cent, and that’s exactly what we agreed with as a government when we came in.”
During his own news conference, Trump was asked how he would increase pressure on Canada, Germany and Italy if any of the three failed to meet the 2-per-cent target.
“Well, they will,” he responded. “I have no doubt about it. They all made commitments and they will be up to 2 per cent. It will be over a relatively short period of years.”
Trudeau was not the only leader who seemed at odds with Trump’s understanding of what emerged from an emergency meeting of NATO leaders that derailed the final sessions of the summit’s closing day and set off another firestorm with the U.S. president at its centre.
French President Emmanuel Macron quickly disputed Trump’s claim that NATO allies had agreed to boost defence spending beyond the 2-percent benchmark, citing the group’s communique that lays out the original goal.
“It confirms the goal of 2 per cent by 2024. That’s all,” said Macron, who also denied Trump threatened to withdraw from the alliance. “President Trump never, at any moment, either in public or in private, threatened to withdraw from NATO.”
Trudeau touted his government’s long-awaited defence policy review, released last June, as the answer to Trump’s demands for more spending from NATO allies. And he said Canada has promised to reverse a decline in military resources with an eye toward the 2-per-cent target. Including that commitment, however, Canada’s defence spending plans are only expected to bring it to 1.4 per cent of GDP by 2024 — well short of the Wales target.
Canada was never expected to agree to Trump’s spending demands. Instead, Trudeau’s announcement prior to the summit — plans to lead a new training mission in Iraq and an extension on its role with a NATO battle group in Latvia through 2023 — were aimed at demonstrating a commitment beyond dollars. While in Latvia earlier this week, when asked about plans to meet the target, the prime minister made it clear he had no plans to double Canada’s defence budget.
Following Thursday’s emergency session of NATO members, Trump declared the military alliance to be “very uni- fied, very strong, no problem.” He said he successfully pushed for NATO members to spend more on defence and at a faster pace than expected.
The summit’s dramatic, chaotic conclusion — complete with the U.S. president suddenly making demands following a formal communique — bore a striking similarity to Trump’s departure from last month’s G7 meetings in Quebec, when he used his Twitter feed to slam Trudeau personally after hearing the prime minister repeat Canada’s insistence it would defend itself from U.S. aggression on trade. This time around, Trudeau chose his words more carefully, although he acknowledged that everyone knew going in that Trump wanted fellow NATO members to carry more of the financial burden.
“The president has been consistent. There was no surprise in his approach on this,” Trudeau said, adding that all NATO leaders were ready to demonstrate and reaffirm their commitment.
“President Trump never, at any moment, either in public or in private, threatened to withdraw from NATO.” EMMANUEL MACRON FRENCH PRESIDENT