Trump: NATO ‘no longer obsolete’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump embraced NATO as a “bulwark of international peace and security” after a White House meeting Wednesday with the alliance’s chief, reversing a skeptical earlier stance.

“I said it was obsolete. It is no longer obsolete,” Trump said during a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that the alliance was increasing cooperation to stem terror attacks, among other steps.

Trump met with Stoltenberg in the Oval Office for an hour and discussed ways in which the NATO chief plans to get member countries to increase military spending to bolster the alliance.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said NATO countries were not shouldering their fair share of defense costs, leaving too much of the burden on the United States.

“The very strong message from President Trump has been very helpful” in getting member states to boost military spending, Stoltenberg said.

A few countries have recently agreed to move toward meeting the goal set in 2014 of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on their militaries. That said, defense spending by NATO states had started to increase before Trump became president.

Trump’s outreach to NATO came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received a frosty reception in Moscow during a visit that initially was billed as a way to jump-start better relations between Russia and the U.S.

In a further irritant to Moscow, Trump signed off Tuesday on Montenegro joining NATO next month, expanding the alliance’s footprint in the Balkans.