NATO insists it’s united as Trump lashes allies over budgets
BRUSSELS — NATO leaders pledged Thursday to stand united against foes like Russia despite a tumultuous summit that saw U.S. President Donald Trump rip into his allies for failing to boost defence spending, casting a dark cloud over the world’s biggest security alliance.
A year after fueling doubts about whether Washington would defend allies who refuse to pay their fair share, Trump launched into the two-day summit in Brussels by berating Germany, among others. Still, by the time it was over he was ebullient, saying that European allies and Canada had “really stepped up their commitment” — and intimating that his relentless hectoring had forced other allies to spend more than NATO’s long-term goal of 2 per cent of GDP on defence.
“Now we’re very happy and have a very, very powerful, very, very strong NATO — much stronger than it was two days ago,” Trump declared after what he described as a “fantastic meeting.”
He was, however, short on details.