Trump has done what Obama didn’t: scare NATO into tracking defense spending
BRUSSELS —
President Donald Trump sent shock waves across Europe when he railed against the NATO alliance and threatened to hand out bills to those not paying their share of defense expenses.
He wasn’t the first to raise concerns, President Barack Obama also frequently lamented NATO members’ failure to spend enough on defense.
But it was Trump’s undiplomatic rhetoric that got the issue at the top of the group’s agenda this week where NATO’s members are expected to accept the idea of public report cards to make sure everyone’s meeting the requirements of the alliance.
Obama complained three years ago at a gathering of European Union leaders that defense couldn’t just be left to the United States and Great Britain. Citing Russia’s annexation of Urkaine’s Crimea, Obama charged the situation “reminds us that our freedom isn’t free.”
Six years ago, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates went further, warning NATO leaders that younger U.S. politicians – “those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me” – might abandon the six-decade-old defense alliance if allies didn’t carry a greater portion of the load.
But it was Trump who scared leaders into accepting closer monitoring of their defense spending when he called the 28-member organization “obsolete” and threatened to pull out or significantly cut funding.
As Trump boarded Air Force One Wednesday on his way to Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with reporters here in Brussels and commended the Trump administration for setting an example by presenting a budget that would increase military spending in Europe by 40 percent.
“This is a commitment to our collective defense from the United States, not only in words but also deeds,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article152364357.html#storylink=cpy
BRUSSELS —
President Donald Trump sent shock waves across Europe when he railed against the NATO alliance and threatened to hand out bills to those not paying their share of defense expenses.
He wasn’t the first to raise concerns, President Barack Obama also frequently lamented NATO members’ failure to spend enough on defense.
But it was Trump’s undiplomatic rhetoric that got the issue at the top of the group’s agenda this week where NATO’s members are expected to accept the idea of public report cards to make sure everyone’s meeting the requirements of the alliance.
Obama complained three years ago at a gathering of European Union leaders that defense couldn’t just be left to the United States and Great Britain. Citing Russia’s annexation of Urkaine’s Crimea, Obama charged the situation “reminds us that our freedom isn’t free.”
Six years ago, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates went further, warning NATO leaders that younger U.S. politicians – “those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me” – might abandon the six-decade-old defense alliance if allies didn’t carry a greater portion of the load.
But it was Trump who scared leaders into accepting closer monitoring of their defense spending when he called the 28-member organization “obsolete” and threatened to pull out or significantly cut funding.
As Trump boarded Air Force One Wednesday on his way to Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with reporters here in Brussels and commended the Trump administration for setting an example by presenting a budget that would increase military spending in Europe by 40 percent.
“This is a commitment to our collective defense from the United States, not only in words but also deeds,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article152364357.html#storylink=cpy
