Newly elected US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that NATO member states should increase their defense spending from two to at least five percent of GDP. He also claims that he saved the North Atlantic Alliance and that it would not exist without him. TASR informs about it according to reports from AFP and Sky News.
“Everyone can afford it. They should be giving five percent, not two percent,” Trump said at a press conference.
According to AFP, the newly elected president has been skeptical of NATO allies for a long time. In December, he threatened them again that the US would leave the Alliance under his leadership if the remaining members did not give more money to defense. During his election campaign, Trump initially said that NATO member countries should spend at least three percent of their GDP on defense.
Trump declared on Tuesday that during his first term in office he forced member states to spend two percent of their GDP on defense, reports Sky News. “If it wasn’t for me, NATO wouldn’t exist now,” he continued. He added that member states had not “paid their bills” until then, but he had “extracted” more than $680 billion from them. According to his own words, he saved NATO, but the other member countries are only using the United States.
“If they pay their bills and if I see that they treat us fairly, then the answer is that I would definitely stay in NATO,” he added.
NATO members set a minimum spending level of two percent of GDP in 2023. But Russia’s war in Ukraine has forced the alliance to strengthen its eastern flank and increase spending, according to AFP.
In addition to Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is also calling for an increase in defense spending. In December, he said member countries should spend “much more than two percent” on defense.
At the same time, Trump said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden also contributed to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine by his actions when he decided that Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO – although Russian President Vladimir Putin categorically disagreed with it.
“When I heard how Biden was negotiating, I thought this is going to be a war. And in the end, she was,” said Trump, adding that this would not have happened if he had been president.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
