Trump renews assault on NATO
President wants more spending by other nations
BRUSSELS — President Donald Trump upended the show of unity at NATO’S annual summit Wednesday, claiming that Germany “is totally controlled by” and “captive to Russia” and inflating his demands that the alliance’s members spend more on defense.
The president’s comments in Brussels overshadowed the alliance’s ostensible business and undercut its ultimate summit declaration of NATO allies’ commitment to shared values and a joint defense against Russian aggression. Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday.
With scorching language, the president questioned the necessity of the alliance that formed a bulwark against Soviet aggression, tweeting after a day of contentious meetings: “What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy?”
As his latest remarks filtered back to the United States, even some Republican congressional leaders criticized the president for his slams against Germany and other allies, though others defended him.
Among Democrats, former Secretary of State John Kerry called Trump’s statements “disgraceful, destructive,” and the party’s congressional leaders — Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi — in a joint statement said the president’s comments were “another profoundly disturbing signal that the president is more loyal to President Putin than to our NATO allies.”
In closed-door summit meetings, Trump significantly increased his previous demands for NATO allies’ defense spending, saying each of the 29 member nations should budget an amount equal to 4 percent of their economies as measured by their gross domestic product — up from 2 percent.
While NATO in 2014 set the goal that each nation reach the 2 percent level by 2024, Trump told allies to do so immediately.
NATO Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, who throughout the day emphasized the steady increases in member nations’ military spending in recent years, giving Trump some credit, later told reporters that the alliance would focus on meeting its current goal.
Following the meetings, Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, took to Twitter.
NATO, he tweeted, “is the most successful alliance in history. All #NATO allies have committed to extending this success through increased defense spending, deterrence and defense, and fighting terrorism. Weakness provokes; strength and cohesion protects. This remains our bedrock belief.”