Donald Trump not satisfied with increased defense spending by NATO allies
United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday stated that although there has been an increase in the defense budgets of several NATO allies after his 'request', the hikes are not 'nearly enough.'
"Billions of additional dollars are being spent by NATO countries since my visit last year, at my request, but it isn't nearly enough. U.S. spends too much. Europe's borders are BAD! Pipeline dollars to Russia are not acceptable!" he tweeted.
Billions of additional dollars are being spent by NATO countries since my visit last year, at my request, but it isn’t nearly enough. U.S. spends too much. Europe’s borders are BAD! Pipeline dollars to Russia are not acceptable!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2018
The tweet came after he attended the annual NATO summit in Brussels, where he delivered blistering criticisms of key U.S. allies and insisted that Washington was bearing an unfair share of Europe's defense costs, reported The Hill.
Earlier in the day, he pushed allies at the NATO summit to enhance their military spending from two to four percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a goal that not even Washington currently meets.
NATO members agreed in 2014 to move toward spending at least two percent of their GDP on defense by 2024.
Trump has repeatedly rallied against its NATO allies for not meeting the two percent target.
(ANI)
First published: 12 July 2018, 9:30 IST