President Trump urges NATO members to pay fair share on defense spending

NTD Staff
By NTD Staff
May 25, 2017US News
share
President Trump urges NATO members to pay fair share on defense spending

President Donald Trump urged NATO member countries to pay their fair share on May 25 at a ceremony held at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. He asked the 27 other leaders to live up to a 2011 decision to increase spending on defense to 2 percent of GDP by 2024.

“The NATO of the future must include a great focus on terrorism and immigration as well as threats from Russia and on NATO’s eastern and southern borders. These grave security concerns are the same reason that I have been very, very direct with Secretary Stoltenberg and members of the alliance in saying that NATO members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. But 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defense,” said the president.

“Two percent is the bare minimum for confronting today’s very real and very vicious threats. If NATO countries make their full and complete contributions, then NATO would be even stronger than it is today, especially from the threat of terrorism,” he added.

Trump’s comments come in the wake of a suicide bombing attack in the U.K. city of Manchester that killed 22 people.

“The recent attack on Manchester in the United Kingdom demonstrates the depths of the evil we face with terrorism. Innocent little girls and so many others were horribly murdered and badly injured while attending a concert,” said Trump. “All people who cherish life must unite in finding, exposing and removing these killers and extremists. And yes, losers. They are losers. Wherever they exist in our society, we must drive them out and never, ever let them back in.”

 

ntd newsletter icon
Sign up for NTD Daily
What you need to know, summarized in one email.
Stay informed with accurate news you can trust.
By registering for the newsletter, you agree to the Privacy Policy.
Comments