Trump urges NATO members to double military spending to 4% of GDP
  • 6 years ago
U.S. President Donald Trump has urged NATO allies to double their military spending to four percent of their GDP.
He made comments on Wednesday while attending a NATO summit in Brussels.
For more on this and other news around the world we turn to our Ro Aram..
Aram… run us through how the summit went…

Well Mark… NATO members seemed a quite bewildered by Trump's comments…
The issue of defense spending and improved burden-sharing are issues Trump has repeatedly harped on.
But NATO says Trump's proposed target of four percent of GDP on military spending is not even being met by the United States.
Trump had earlier said Washington spends 4.2 percent, but according to numbers released by NATO, it spent an estimated three and a half percent on defense this year, which is a fraction lower than last year's figure.
He also singled out Germany for not pulling its weight, saying Berlin only spends "a little over one percent.
NATO figures show Germany spends just under one and a quarter percent.
When asked about Trump's proposal, this is what NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had to say…

"…..Well I will focus on what we have agreed and we have agreed to be committed to the pledge increasing defence spending to 2 percent. And let's start with that. So we have a way to go, but the good news is that we really started to deliver……"

Despite Trump's complaints, he did sign the joint communique, in which NATO members agreed to focus on more defense-spending and burden-sharing.
They also pledged to bolster the alliance's deterrence and defense capabilities to counter Russian threats.
The joint communique comes just days before Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
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