Trump Breaks NATO: Leaders Pledge ‘Unwavering Commitment’ to Boost Defense Spending

By The Daily Wire. Leaders of member nations that belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledged their “unwavering commitment” to increasing their defense funding of the organization after President Donald Trump slammed the group for treating the United States unfairly.

The commitment from European leaders came after Trump publicly embarrassed NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during a meeting early on Wednesday morning. . .

“So, we’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France, we’re protecting all of these countries,” Trump said. “And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they’re paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia. So, we are supposed to protect you against Russia.”

“You tell me if that is appropriate.” Trump continued. “This has been going on for decades. This has been brought up by other presidents, but other presidents never did anything about it.” (Read more from “Trump Breaks NATO: Leaders Pledge ‘Unwavering Commitment’ to Boost Defense Spending” HERE)

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NATO Pledges to Boost Defense Spending After Stern Words From Trump

By Fox News. . .The U.S. and European allies signed a declaration stating they are “committed to improving the balance of sharing the costs and responsibilities of alliance membership.”

The declaration comes after confrontational and testy discussions between Trump and other NATO leaders.

Since the election, Trump has criticized NATO countries for not paying their fair share, while suggesting he would only come to the defense of NATO nations that fulfilled their financial obligation.

Trump also has pressed NATO countries to fulfill their goal of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024. NATO estimates that 15 members, or just over half, will meet that benchmark based on current trends. . .

Via Twitter, he called for members to meet the 2 percent commitment immediately. And in a statement Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump, at the summit, “suggested that countries not only meet their commitment of 2 percent of their GDP on defense spending, but that they increase it to 4 percent. Trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations.” (Read more from “NATO Pledges to Boost Defense Spending After Stern Words From Trump” HERE)

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