Trump tells NATO leaders to double their defense spending goal

World
Europe

02:45

US President Donald Trump told NATO leaders on Wednesday they should increase their defense spending to 4 percent of their country’s economic output, double the group’s current goal of two percent.

NATO allies shrugged off the demand as part and parcel of Trump’s brash push for allies to spend more on their own defense at a summit in Brussels, with a quip from the alliance’s chief that it should aim to meet its goal before reaching further.

"We should first get to 2 pct,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that eight of the 29 allies were meeting that target, while others had a plan to do - turning a leaf on years of defense budget cuts.

Striking a strident tone at the summit, Trump’s aspirational target of 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) was above the United States' own spending on defense.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said the US, "in actual numbers," is spending 4.2 percent of its GDP on defense. However, according to numbers just released by NATO on Tuesday, the US is expected to spend an estimated 3.5 percent of its GDP on defense in 2018. That is lower than last year's number, which was at 3.57 percent. Germany's estimate for 2018 is 1.21 percent, slightly higher than that of last year.

Trump singled out Germany for particular criticism, saying that as a "rich country," it should step up defense spending immediately, not over a 10-year period.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, US President Donald Trump, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pose for a group photo in the park of the Cinquantenaire, during a NATO Summit, in central Brussels, Belgium, July 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

"On top of that, Germany is just paying a little bit over 1 pct, whereas the United States, in actual numbers, is paying 4.2 pct of a much larger GDP," Trump said during a breakfast with Stoltenberg.

"So I think that's inappropriate also. You know, we're protecting Germany, we're protecting France. We're protecting everybody. And yet we're paying a lot of money to protect," Trump said.

A White House spokeswoman said his remarks came as he was urging leaders to increase their outlays on defense and were not a formal proposal.

"He 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," Sarah Sanders told reporters.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for a working dinner during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit at the museum of art and history in Cinquantenaire park in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

"Trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations."

A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron also played down Trump’s words as rhetoric, saying "it is not a new demand."

During his campaign, Trump called NATO “obsolete” and suggested that the US might not come to the defense of members if they found themselves under attack – a shift that would represent a fundamental realignment of the modern world order.

He also called Brussels a “hell hole” and “a mess.” Trump has moderated his language but has continued complaining that NATO members are not meeting their fiscal obligations to the alliance.

"Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2 percent (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in payments that have not been made. Will they reimburse the US?" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

(With input from agencies.)