The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Trump wants more spent to combat terror
President says Nato nations owe huge amounts for previous underspending
US President Donald Trump has delivered a blunt message to European members of Nato that they must spend more on defence to meet the threat from terrorism.
In a speech in Brussels in front of Nato leaders including Theresa May, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and the alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, Mr Trump said that the failure of member states to meet the Nato target to spend 2% of GDP on defence was “not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States”.
He claimed that many Nato nations “owe massive amounts of money” from past underspending on defence, and said that the 2% target was a “bare minimum” which should be raised to enhance the alliance’s readiness to deal with modern threats.
In the wake the Manchester terror attack, Mr Trump said Nato must focus more closely on “terrorism and immigration” alongside its traditional role of countering threats from Russia.
“Terrorism must be stopped in its tracks or the horror we saw in Manchester and so many other places will continue forever,” said Mr Trump.
“You have thousands and thousands of people pouring into our various countries and spreading throughout and in many cases we have no idea who they are.
“We must be tough. We must be strong. And we must be vigilant.
“The Nato of the future must include a great focus on terrorism and immigration, as well as on threats from Russia and on Nato’s eastern and southern borders.”
He added: “These grave security concerns are the same reason I have been very, very direct with Secretary Stoltenberg and members of the alliance in saying that Nato members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations.
“For 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defence.
“This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the US and many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years and not paying in those past years.
“Over the last eight years, the United States spent more on defence than all other Nato countries combined.
“If all Nato members had spent just 2% of their GDP on defence last year we would have another $119 billion for our collective defence and for the finance of additional Nato reserves.
Alongside the US, Poland, Greece and Estonia, the UK is one of only five of the 28 Nato members to meet the 2% target.