(NewsSpace.com) – When former President Donald Trump was in office, he made it clear that he expected European nations to contribute to NATO instead of relying on the US to foot the bill. At one point, he even threatened to pull the US out of the alliance. Now, the head of NATO is praising Trump for his threats.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, June 18, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed the conflict in Ukraine and why it’s essential for the West, including the US, to maintain its support of the war-torn country. It’s not just America, though, Stoltenberg said that over the past few years, other alliance members have increased their funding. While he attributes some of that to Russia’s aggression, he also noted that Trump’s message got through. During the four years he worked with the former president, he says Trump “had a very clear message on the need for European allies to spend more,” noting that he “agree[s] with him.”
Stoltenberg continued, saying that the alliance has “seen a significant increase in spending by European allies,” and NATO is “in a much better place.” According to recent reports, more than 20 of the alliance’s 32 members will meet their defense spending targets in 2024. That’s a 100% increase over 2019’s figures, when only 10 members hit their target. Within the next few years, the others will be up to par, too. He originally predicted that only 18 would meet their thresholds.
During the interview, Stoltenberg also spoke about the conflict in Ukraine and what a loss for the country would mean for authoritarian nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. He explained that they are providing a lot of support to Russia and want NATO to fail. In particular, the NATO head singled out China for wanting to play both sides of the coin — enjoy a “normal, friendly trading relationship with European and NATO allies and then continue to be the main supporter” of the war in Ukraine. He went so far as to say the bloc should “look into the consequences.”
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