Trump stuns NATO allies with demand to double defence spending
News & Trends •
trump arrived on the back of a barrage of criticism of europe on issues ranging from trade to energy and above all his claims that the continent freeloads on the back of america for its defence1 us president donald trump shocked allies at a fraught nato summit on wednesday by suddenly demanding that members double their defence spending commitments1 the summit in brussels is shaping up as the alliances most difficult in years against a backdrop of deepening transatlantic tensions in fields ranging from trade to energy and defence1 nato allies agreed at their wales summit in 2014 to try to spend two percent of gdp on defence within 10 years but the white house said trump suggested that was not enough1 during the presidents remarks today at the nato summit he suggested that countries not only meet their commitment of two percent of their gdp on defence spending but that they increase it to four percent white house spokeswoman sarah sanders said1 the president raised this same issue when he was at nato last year. president trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations1 bulgarian president rumen radev confirmed that trump had made the demand and asked what it meant for the future of the alliance that has been the bedrock of european security for 70 years1 nato is not a stock exchange where you can buy security. nato is an alliance of sovereign countries united by strategic targets and common values he told reporters1 all 29 nato leaders including trump backed a joint statement committing themselves to greater burden sharing and to the the alliances founding commitment that an attack on one member is an attack on them all with no mention of the four percent1 trumps surprise demand came after he clashed with chancellor angela merkel calling germany a captive of russia because of its gas links and singling out berlin for failing to pay its way1 he then set the tone for the day with a blistering attack on key ally germany at a breakfast meeting with nato chief jens stoltenberg1 germany is a captive of russia because it is getting so much of its energy from russia trump said taking particular aim at the proposed nord stream ii gas pipeline which he has previously criticised1 everybodys talking about it all over the world theyre saying were paying you billions of dollars to protect you but youre paying billions of dollars to russia1 merkel who grew up in communist east germany shot back that she knew what it meant to be under kremlin domination and germany had the right to make its own policy choices1 i myself have also experienced a part of germany being controlled by the soviet union she said1 i am very glad that we are united today in freedom as the federal republic of germany and that we can therefore also make our own independent policies and make our own independent decisions1 the pair later met for a one-on-one meeting and while trump insisted they had a very very good relationship their frosty body language suggested otherwise1 merkel said she welcomed the chance to have an exchange of views with trump1