Trump takes another shot at NATO as he prepares to meet with alliance leaders
via chicagotribune:
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that an upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin might be easier than a gathering with NATO allies, as he left the White House for a week of high-profile diplomacy in Europe.
In a series of tweets and comments to reporters before departing, Trump took fresh aim at other NATO members for not meeting targets for defense spending, saying the arrangement was unfair to U.S. taxpayers.
His trip to Europe will also include a meeting in Britain with Prime Minister Theresa May, whose government is in disarray after a pair of key resignations, as well as a weekend of golf in Scotland.
“So I have NATO, I have the U.K. – which is somewhat in turmoil,” Trump told reporters. “And I have Putin. Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think? Who would think?”
Asked if he considers Putin a friend or a foe, Trump said: “I really can’t say right now. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a competitor.”
“I think that getting along with Russia, getting along with China, getting along with others is a good thing, not a bad thing,” he added. “I’ve said that many times for many years. So we’ll see. We’re meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday. We’ll see how that goes.”
Trump also declined to say whether May should stay in power.
“Well, that’s up to the people,” he said. “I get along with her very well. I have a very good relationship. That’s certainly up to the people, not up to me.”
Trump also offered kind words for Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary who is a frontman for Britain’s campaign to leave the European Union and one of the recent departures from May’s government.
“Boris Johnson’s a friend of mine,” Trump said. “He’s been very, very nice to me. Very supportive. And maybe we’ll speak to him when I get over there.”
Trump’s comments came in advance of a week-long trip that has already riled many leaders within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Days after their meeting in Brussels, Trump plans to sit down with Putin for their first one-on-one summit, a meeting in Helsinki, that could be more cordial, further straining the long-standing military alliance.
“Getting ready to leave for Europe. First meeting – NATO,” Trump wrote in his series of early morning tweets.”The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer.”
In a second tweet, the president wrote: “NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very Unfair!”