President Donald Trump says he has secured commitments by NATO members to increase their defense spending commitments, after days of the U.S. leader complaining that Washington wasshouldering too much of the burden of supporting the alliance.

“They have substantially upped their commitment and now we’re very happy and have a very, very powerful, very, very strong NATO,” Trump told reporters at the close of an alliance summit in Brussels.He didn’t specify what country committed to what.

 

“Some are at 2 percent (of GDP), others have agreed definitely to go to 2 percent,” he said. A day earlier, Trump suggested that NATO allies commit to spending 4 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024. 

“I believe in NATO,” Trump said Thursday, but added the United States was being treated very unfairly in providing for the nearly seven-decade alliance, claiming that Washington was shouldering anywhere between 70 to 90 percent of the burden of supporting NATO, which he said was unfair to U.S. taxpayers.

Trump said he could withdraw the United States from NATO without congressional approval, but said “that’s unnecessary” after the commitment from the alliance members.”There was a great collegial spirit in that room…very unified, very strong.”

“NATO is now a fine-tuned machine,” Trump boasted.

Trump’s has demanded that NATO members boost their defense spending from the start of the two-day summit on Wednesday.During a breakfast meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump accused Germany of being a “captive” of Russia for allowing Russian energy company Gazprom to construct the Nord Stream 2 pipeline through its waters. 

The president’s demands in Thursday’s closed-door meeting mirrored comments he made hours earlier on Twitter:”Presidents have been trying unsuccessfully for years to get Germany and other rich NATO Nations to pay more toward their protection from Russia,” he wrote.

NATO leaders were hoping on Thursday to move beyond President Trump’s demands for higher defense spending, and focus on ending the long war in Afghanistan.Stoltenberg wants leaders to agree to fund Afghan security forces until 2024, despite public fatigue in Western countries about their involvement in the conflict.

Following the discussions in Belgium, Trump heads to Britain, where he is to be hosted by British Prime Minister Theresa May, who suddenly finds herself embroiled in domestic political upheaval stemming from intra-party disagreement over terms for the country’s exit from the EU, known as Brexit.

Trump’s itinerary will largely keep him out of central London, where significant protests are expected. 

After visits to England and Scotland, where the president owns two golf resorts, Trump will go to Helsinki for a highly anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“He’s not my enemy and hopefully someday he’ll be a freind,” Trump told reporters Thursday when asked about Putin, who he referred to as a “competitor.”
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