BRUSSELS President Donald Trump upended the show of unity at NATOs annual summit Wednesday as many allies had feared, claiming that Germany is totally controlled by and captive to Russia and inflating his demands that the alliances members spend more on defense to an unrealistic level.
The presidents comments in Brussels, especially his harsh and unexpected attack on Germany, Europes leading power, overshadowed the alliances ostensible business and undercut its ultimate summit declaration of NATO allies commitment to shared values and a joint defense against Russian aggression.
Under fire for his warm embrace of Russias Vladimir Putin, Trump turned a harsh spotlight on Germanys own ties to Russia, alleging that a natural gas pipeline venture with Moscow has left Angela Merkels government totally controlled and captive to Russia.
His attack on Germany was in keeping with his practice of accusing others of behavior he has been accused of. It comes after he irked allies last month by suggesting that Russia should be readmitted to the Group of 7 industrialized democracies.
Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, a get-together that has U.S. allies apprehensive given his frequent warm words for the autocrat.
The presidents posture toward close allies has been increasingly and remarkably confrontational this year, especially in comparison to his more conciliatory approach to adversaries, including Russia and North Korea. Even as he flew to Brussels, Trump continued his attacks on NATO allies for not spending more on defense, and after hours of meetings Wednesday he reiterated his disdain in a tweet that began, What good is NATO … ?
As his latest remarks filtered back to the United States, even some Republican congressional leaders criticized the president for his slams against Germany and other allies, though others defended him.
In closed-door summit meetings, Trump significantly increased his previous demands for NATO allies defense spending, saying each of the 29 member nations should budget an amount equal to 4 percent of their economies as measured by their gross domestic product _ up from 2 percent.
While NATO in 2014 set the goal that each nation reach the 2 percent level by 2024, Trump told allies to do so immediately. Doubling that, which allies reject, would require that the U.S. now at 3.5 percent of GDP increase its military spending as well.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who throughout the day emphasized the steady increases in member nations military spending in recent years, giving Trump some credit, later told reporters that the alliance would focus on meeting its current goal.
Stoltenberg has strived to maintain good relations with Trump, but his calm demeanor at a news conference at days end could not dispel the palpable tension caused by an American president who gives short shrift to longtime alliances. White House aides privately acknowledged that Trumps posture reflected his transactional approach, and was intended to create leverage on trade issues as well as security.
Though Trump had been expected to shake things up in Brussels, especially after he had broken with allies last month at the G-7 summit in Canada, his performance still was something of a shock that drew widespread criticism.
Nicholas Burns, who was the U.S. ambassador to NATO on Sept. 11, 2001, after which the alliance voted to come to the aid of the United States, said, Our big strategic advantage over Russia is we have these big alliance systems and they dont. Thats a very big part of Americas influence in the world and the president doesnt see that, because hes so narrowly focused on trade disputes.
Hes making a major mistake if he keeps this up, Burns added. Its taking on the vestiges of a vendetta. When you go out at the start of the summit and set a tone that looks so anti-German and looks like its aimed at weakening (Chancellor Angela) Merkel, it looks malicious.
Following the meetings at the sprawling, glass-enclosed NATO campus on the outskirts of Belgiums capital, Trumps secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, took to Twitter for damage control.
