Trump in Europe: NATO spending and Russia top agenda

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Europe

02:52

To Europe now. NATO, the UK and Russia, a packed agenda for US President Donald Trump. He's in Brussels for a NATO summit - before a trip to Britain - followed by a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. All this amid tensions with Washington's European allies. CGTN's Mariam Zaidi reports.

This is what over one billion dollars can buy you. But as NATO readies itself to welcome heads of state and government to its new glass palace on Wednesday, it seems one thing money can't buy right now, is good will for the transatlantic alliance.

Ahead of the NATO summit, Donald Trump has called on European allies to commit more on defense spending to lessen America's burden.

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "NATO has not treated us fairly. We pay far too much and they pay far too little."

DONALD TUSK EU COUNCIL PRESIDENT "Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all, you don't have that many. Money is important but genuine solidarity is more important. Dear Mr. President, please remember about this tomorrow when we meet at NATO summit, but above all when you meet President Putin in Helsinki. It's always worth knowing who is your strategic friend and strategic problem."

U.S. President Trump has sent letters to the leaders of NATO countries, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, demanding that they increase their defense spending.

This comes despite the fact that in June, NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the majority of allies would reach the target to spend two percent of their GDP on defense by 2024.

A Brussels-based analyst agreed Trump's attempts to shake up the multilateralism model could break the backbone of the alliance, its solidarity

FABRICE POTHIER DEFENSE ANALYST, RASMUSSEN GLOBAL "He can hurt and he's already hurting what is the most important asset - the political unity. Political unity - that's what makes everything NATO does on the ground credible. If not, Russia will want to test NATO and see whether U.S. will come to the rescue of some European allies."

But Trump's upcoming trip across the Atlantic is also raising the temperature around EU capitals. In Brussels over the weekend, over one thousand people took to the streets to protest the American President's visit.

AHMED PROTESTER "It's the right time to go out and disagree with the current system because it's disgusting."

MARIAM ZAIDI BRUSSELS "Can the bad blood be fixed? Well here's a little sliver of hope. Ahead of Wednesday's summit, NATO tweeted that as far back as 1957 - at their very first summit - there were rumors of a crisis in the alliance. So if the fallout from the Suez crisis didn't break NATO, surely Donald Trump couldn't. Mariam Zaidi, CGTN, Brussels."