Trump demands more defence spending from NATO allies

WASHINGTON— U.S. President Donald Trump has written sharply worded letters to the leaders of several NATO allies, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, taking them to task for spending too little on their own defence and warning that the United States is losing patience with their failure to meet security obligations shared by the alliance.

The letters, which went out in June, are the latest sign of acri- mony between Trump and U.S. allies as he heads to a NATO summit meeting next week in Brussels that will be a closely watched test of the president’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance after he has repeatedly questioned its value and claimed that its members are taking advantage of the United States.

They raised the prospect of a second bitterly contentious confrontation between the president and U.S. allies after a blow-up by Trump at the G7 gathering in June in Quebec, and highlighted the worries of European allies that far from projecting solidarity in the face of threats from Russia, their meeting will highlight divisions within the alliance. That would play into the hands of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who is to meet with Trump in Helsinki after the NATO meeting.

“As we discussed during your visit in April, there is growing frustration in the United States that some allies have not stepped up as promised,” Trump wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a particularly pointed version of the letter, according to someone who saw it and shared excerpts with the New York Times.

In language that is repeated in letters to the leaders of other countries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said he understands the “domestic political pressure” brought to bear by opponents boosting military expenditures, noting that he has expended “considerable political capital to increase our own military spending.”

But the president seemed to suggest that the United States might adjust its military presence around the world if its allies do not step up and spend more for their own security.

The president was referring to the fact that many NATO allies are not living up to the commitment they made at their Wales summit meeting in 2014 to spend 2 per cent of their gross domestic product on national defence.