Trump Downplays NATO Allies' Refusal to Join Iran War
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued to speak positively about the NATO alliance despite earlier criticism of some member countries, saying they 'just had a bad moment' when they refused to take part in the US and Israel's war with Iran, according to CNN.
When asked whether the United States would defend countries such as Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom if they were attacked despite not joining the war, Trump said, 'Spain has been very bad, but you know ... Italy has been good, and almost all of the countries have been good. They just had a bad moment.'
Trump Praises NATO Meetings as 'Tremendous Unification'
According to CNN, Trump praised the outcome of his meetings with NATO leaders, describing them as a show of unprecedented unity. 'If there's one word that comes out of today, it's unification. I've never seen anything like it,' Trump said. 'Every one of those countries, they love us, they love each other. That was tremendous unification. It was a nice thing to say,' he added.
Earlier, he praised what he described as the strong support shown by NATO leaders during his meetings with alliance members, saying they appreciated his efforts to push for higher defence spending. Speaking at a press conference, Trump said, 'They like the job I'm doing. They said, Sir, we love you. These are grown people saying that; isn't that nice?'
New NATO Defence Spending Target of 5% of GDP
According to CNN, Trump said that after years of urging NATO members to increase their defence budgets, alliance countries were now backing a new target of spending 5% of GDP on defence. 'Some have truly answered the call, and others are making big changes and will be answering the call,' he said. 'Benchmark is going to be that 5% number; that's the number it should have been for years.'
Trump also said the increased defence spending by NATO allies would benefit the United States, as much of the additional funding would be used to purchase American-made weapons and military equipment, CNN reported.
