NATO summit in Brussels is over. The summit, as expressed by some, was a chaos, and the outcome is confusing.
Donald Trump claimed an imaginary victory over America’s allies in NATO.
Before flying off to the UK for his next leg of European tour Trump said, “Yesterday I let them know that I was extremely unhappy at what was happening and they have substantially upped their commitment”.
He claimed to have pushed NATO allies into increased defence spending commitments. He said, “They really stepped up their commitment … stepped it up an additional $33bn … the number could be higher than $40bn”.
“We have a very, very strong Nato, much stronger than it was two days ago”, said Trump.
According to The Guardian, “Trump seems to imply that increased spending on defence by Nato allies came as a result of his combative remarks in Brussels this week and last year. However, the $33-40bn figures appear to be a reference to increased spending since 2014.”
“Trump said he believed spending on defence should rise to 4% of GDP, but Nato members have not agreed to any increase on the 2% pledge from 2014, which came after pressure from Barack Obama.”, reported The Guardian.
As he flew away, Franch President Emmanuel Macron came out to correct the record that was given in Trump’s hands-off press conference.
Nothing has changed since Trump arrived in Brussels and there is no empirical measure of this claim for increased strength claimed Macron.
As per the Brussels summit declaration published on Wednesday, nothing changed. Heads of state signed a communique in which they “reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all aspects of the Defence Investment Pledge agreed at the 2014 Wales summit”.
“There is a communique that was published yesterday. It’s very detailed,” Macron said. “It confirms the goal of 2% by 2024. That’s all.”
“Overall, the US defence budget accounts for 70% of Nato spending. But spending on defence by NATO countries has been increasing since 2015. In 2017, it rose by an estimated 5.28% and in 2018 by an estimated 3.78%.”, stated The Guardian.
So, is Trump’s claim of twisting ‘allies’ arms to get what he wanted is similar to his claim of success with North Korea?
Reports suggest otherwise.
According to The Guardian, the meeting on Thursday, “began on time, at 8.45am. Theresa May, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and other leaders were there. But Trump was missing. Seldom keen on such detailed discussions, the US president turned up late and came with a different agenda.”
Dispensing with the usual diplomatic niceties, he pointed at Merkel, whom he dislikes on a personal level as well as over their policy differences, and said: “You, Angela.”
The most stunning comment came from a source reported by Reuters: “He said they must raise spending by January 2019 or the United States would go it alone.”, reported The Guardian.
Meeting between Trump and the leader of Romanian, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Georgia wascancelled.
A series of press conferences with European leaders had been scheduled but were cancelled as the leaders quickly headed straight for the airport. Trump was not scheduled to hold one but did.
“At the press conference, he hailed the summit as a success, praised NATO, insisted his relationship with other Nato leaders was good.”, reported The Guardian.
