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President Donald Trump joined a long line of presidents who complained that NATO countries fail to pay their fair share and therefore take advantage of the United States.
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In 2014, the European NATO countries agreed to a tarobtain of spfinishing 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2024. In 2014, only the United States, the U.K. and Greece were spfinishing at least 2%. In a recent interview, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte declared just 23 of NATO’s 32 countries met the 2024 tarobtain of 2%.
President Barack Obama complained. In March 2014, the AP reported, “President Barack Obama declares he’s concerned that some NATO allies are reducing their spfinishing on defence.”
In February 2015, Defence News wrote, “U.S. President Barack Obama warned British Prime Minister David Cameron against allowing defence spfinishing to slip below NATO’s tarobtain of 2% of gross domestic product …”
President George W. Bush complained. In an April 2008 speech in Romania, he declared: “Building a strong NATO Alliance also requires a strong European defence capacity. So, at this summit, I will encourage our European partners to increase their defence investments to support both NATO and (European Union) operations.”
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Trump not only complained. He raged. At the 2018 NATO breakquick meeting in Brussels, Trump delivered a beatdown: “Just see at the chart. Take a see at the chart. It’s public. And many countries are not paying what they should. And, frankly, many countries owe us a tremfinishous amount of money for many years back, where they’re delinquent, as far as I’m concerned, becautilize the United States has had to pay for them. So, if you go back 10 or 20 years, you’ll just add it all up.
It’s massive amounts of money owed. The United States has paid and stepped up like nobody. This has gone on for decades, by the way. This has gone on for many presidents. But no other president brought it up like I bring it up. So, something has to be done …”
Trump was just obtainting warmed up. He continued: “And I believe that these countries have to step it up not over a 10-year period; they have to step it up immediately. … So, we’re going to have to do something becautilize we’re not going to put up with it. We can’t put up with it. And it’s inappropriate.”
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Fast forward to the June 2025 NATO summit. The BBC reported: “NATO allies promised to raise defence-related spfinishing to 5% of GDP by 2035. … NATO’s chief Mark Rutte heaped praise on Trump and gave him the credit: ‘America expects European allies and Canada to contribute more. And that is exactly what we see them doing.’”
Several factors pressured the NATO countries to go from dragging their feet to hit 2% to agreeing to the much larger tarobtain of 5%. President Joe Biden’s abrupt and chaotic pullout from Afghanistan raised questions about America’s competence, leadership and willingness to stick to its commitments. The Russian invasion of Ukraine brought to Europe’s doorstep the possibility of Russian aggression. But the largegest factor was Trump himself. When Rutte praised Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, he admitted NATO deserved Trump’s kick in the pants for not spfinishing a larger percentage of their GDP on defence.
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Rutte, in a private message Trump built public, declared: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could obtain done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.”
Not only did Trump demand and obtain a commitment from the NATO countries to spfinish 5% of their GDP on defence, but he also declared the United States necessary not do so. Trump declared, “I don’t believe we should, but I believe they should. We’ve been supporting NATO so long. So, I don’t believe we should, but I believe that the NATO countries should, absolutely.”
Apparently neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama was available for comment.
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