Trump campaign to get NATO partners to 'pay their fair share' is working!
WND Staff
December 5, 2019
NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
President Trump has campaigned since he took office for other nations to bear a larger share of the financial load of international stability, including calling on NATO nations to raise their contributions.
He's now seeing results.
On Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter that while the U.S. contributions to NATO have remained stable, other nations are increasing their share.
"Other countries have already increased by $130 Billion – with $400 Billion soon," he wrote.
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On Nov. 29, ahead of its leaders meeting in London, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave details of large increases in allied defense spending.
"Mr. Stoltenberg announced that in 2019 defense spending across European Allies and Canada increased in real terms by 4.6%, making this the fifth consecutive year of growth. He also revealed that by the end of 2020, those Allies will have invested $130 billion more since 2016. Based on the latest estimates, the accumulated increase in defense spending by the end of 2024 will be $400 billion," a NATO statement said.
"This is unprecedented progress and it is making NATO stronger," said Stoltenberg.
The NATO official also revealed more allies are meeting the guideline of spending 2% of their Gross Domestic Product on defense.
"This year, nine Allies will meet the guideline, up from only three Allies just a few years ago. The majority of Allies have plans in place to reach 2% by 2024," the NATO report said.
Stoltenberg said allies "are also investing billions more in new capabilities and contributing to NATO deployments around the world. So we are on the right track but we cannot be complacent. We must keep up the momentum."
The NOQReport blog said, "Leftists may prefer the pomp and preordained Nobel Peace Prize given to the president’s predecessor, but when it comes to getting actual results, President Trump is displaying the type of real statesmanship we have desperately needed for our nation since President Reagan left office."
It continued: "We are not sending pallets of cash to Iran or signing indefensible climate change deals to appease the Greta Thunbergs of the world (though she didn’t like the Paris Climate Agreement, either). Instead, our foreign policy is one built on an America First presumption. We must do what’s best for America. Thankfully, that often means what’s best for the world, such as this instance in which our NATO partners are paying more for the common defense of democracy in its member nations."
"Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize and did an apology tour before giving Iran a ton of money to be used against us. President Trump is cutting deals, rebuilding our military, and increasing respect for America worldwide. I’ll take the latter," the blog said.
Business Insider noted Trump repeatedly has criticized NATO over how the alliance is funded and pressured other member states to increase defense spending.
"In an apparent effort to appease Trump's concerns over how much the U.S. pays … NATO in late November announced it's agreed to reduce the U.S. government's contribution to the direct budget. Under the new agreement, Germany and the U.S. will now equally pay 16% of NATO's central budget after the U.S. previously contributed 22% (more than any other member)," the Business Insider said.
"There is an underlying truth to Trump's criticism of NATO that the U.S. spends a significant amount of money and provides an extraordinary amount of resources and manpower to the protection of Europe and Asia. But the U.S. benefits a great deal from this, and U.S. involvement in NATO has long helped it solidify its role as the globe's leading power."