Trump Lectures NATO Members On Cost Sharing

US President Donald Trump arrives to meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a NATO summit of heads of state and government in Brussels on Thursday, May 25, 2017. US President Donald Trump and other NATO ... US President Donald Trump arrives to meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a NATO summit of heads of state and government in Brussels on Thursday, May 25, 2017. US President Donald Trump and other NATO heads of state and government on Thursday will inaugurate the new headquarters as well as participating in an official working dinner. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) MORE LESS

BRUSSELS (AP) — President Donald Trump is lecturing members of the NATO alliance to pay their fair share on defense during a ceremony at NATO headquarters.

Trump says NATO members must “finally contribute their fair share” and meet their obligations.

The president has been urging NATO leaders to live up to a 2011 decision to increase spending on defense to 2 percent of GDP by 2024.

Trump says 23 of the 28 member nations are not paying what they should and he says it’s “not fair” to the people of the United States. He says many of these nations owe “massive” amounts of money from previous years.

The president spoke as the other NATO leaders looked on.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. The president spoke as the other NATO leaders looked on.

    I assume this refers to his comments at the NATO dedication just now.

    Three big takeaways from his comments:

    1. He can’t fucking read. Three words [pause], three words [pause]. A third greater reads more fluidly.

    2. He still felt “Welcome to KSA” — Kiss Salman’s Ass — calling the Wahhabi monarch “a great leader.”

    1. Telling the leaders of NATO member states that they “need to pay up” in this setting
      sounded like a Mafia don going public with his demands to collect on his loansharking.

    Sickening.

    Coming from any other person, he would be an international embarrassment.

  2. I can’t believe that trump still doesn’t know how NATO works. He thinks these countries are supposed to pay the USA money to defend them. In actuality, the only money the participating members owe NATO is dues and I believe they are all current on their dues. The NATO agreement says they spend 2% of their GDP on defense. It has NOTHING to do with money owed anyone.

  3. Yes, please treat our allies as vassals to be lectured to and extorted. They love that.

  4. I just checked, and it isn’t 2024. That’s seven years from now – is this a Trump calendar or a reality calendar?

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