The Chair of Republicans Overseas Greg Swenson says Trump and Meloni should discuss defense budgets.
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00:00Indeed. So not too lopsided a trading arrangement between the United States and Italy.
00:07But one area where Mrs. Maloney is going to find herself perhaps sitting on the naughty step is with regards to her country's expenditure on defense,
00:15which is 1.5 percent of GDP, far below what Mr. Trump would like it to be.
00:21I mean, is that likely to count against her?
00:23I think so. I think they can have a decent conversation about it.
00:27And perhaps she'll make a commitment to ease into a more reliable number.
00:31You know, Italy is still a major economy.
00:33You know, it's maybe not what it was comparatively to other countries that have that have really grown.
00:39But, you know, they're still in the top 10 globally.
00:42And the European countries combined are 10 times the GDP of Russia.
00:48And that's got to be a sticking point for President Trump that, you know, this is the, you know, arguably a top tier economic bloc.
00:56And yet they're not spending enough on defense and security.
01:00And so, yeah, I think that is an issue.
01:02And she should have the conversation about it and make some sort of commitment.
01:06I know it can't happen overnight, but there needs to be commitments from the larger economies in Europe.
01:12The smaller ones are doing great, with the exception of the U.K., who's always been above 2 percent.
01:18So I think, you know, President Trump appreciates, and so does J.D. Vance, they appreciate the fact that the U.K. still has a sizable military.