• Trump scolds fellow NATO leaders.
Rebuke catches Europe off guard
BRUSSELS — Surrounded by stone-faced allies, President Donald Trump rebuked fellow NATO members Thursday for failing to meet the military alliance’s financial benchmarks, asserting that leaves it weaker and shortchanges “the people and taxpayers of the United States.”
He also declined to explicitly endorse its mutual defense agreement.
That was seen as an unprecedented one-two punch from a president in his first major speech in Europe that further rattled a continent anxious about Mr. Trump’s commitment to their bonds and reeling from another deadly terror attack.
Discord also was perceived in body language. When Mr. Trump greeted Emmanuel Macron, France’s new president, they grabbed each other’s hands, jaws clenched, in an extended grip that turned Mr. Trump’s knuckles white. Later, Mr. Macron said he pushed Mr. Trump to stay in the Obama-negotiated Paris agreement on climate change, an interaction the White House omitted from a read out of the meeting.
Also, when leaders lined up to pose for the traditional photograph at NATO headquarters, Mr. Trump appeared to push aside the Montenegrin prime minister, Dusko Markovic, to get to his assigned place in the front. (For his part, Mr. Markovic was seen as taking it in stride.)
Mr. Trump, who has often complained back home about other nations’ NATO support, lectured the other leaders in person this time, declaring, “Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years.”
The president’s assertion was seen as immediately putting NATO under new strain and did nothing to quiet questions about his complicated relationship with an alliance he has previously panned as “obsolete.” Notably, he also did not offer an explicit public endorsement of NATO’s “all for one, one for all” collective defense principle, though White House officials said his mere presence at the meeting signaled his commitment.
While Mr. Trump addressed the threat of terrorism, he was seen as refusing to go hard on Russia — which is viewed as NATO’s arch geopolitical foe — to allay allies’ fears. And late Thursday, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said Mr. Trump is “looking at” the future of U.S. sanctions on Russia.
NATO officials had expected Mr. Trump to raise the payments issue during Thursday’s meeting, but one official said NATO members were still taken aback by the aggressive tone of his speech.
The president opened his day with a meeting with leaders of the European Union, another alliance he has criticized. Following the talks, European Council President Donald Tusk said he and the U.S. president agreed on a need to combat terrorism but some differences loomed large.
Mr. Trump arrived late Thursday night in Sicily for meetings Friday with leaders from the Group of 7 wealthy nations, who will be looking to build trust as they seek common ground after a year of seismic shifts in global politics. The summit marks Mr. Trump’s final stop on a maiden international trip.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama was in Berlin to help celebrate 500 years since Martin Luther’s Reformation, and received a rock-star welcome from tens of thousands at the Brandenburg Gate.