Since President Trump began his second term in office, his relationship with NATO has become increasingly tense. He has frequently criticized other NATO members for being unwilling to increase their defense spending and complained that European allies did not support the United States in military strikes against Iran.
According to European News TV's report on July 2nd, as this year's NATO summit approaches, Trump once again published a statement criticizing NATO, claiming that the relationship between the United States and NATO is 'unequal', and that it is unreasonable for the United States to maintain a 'unilateral' relationship with NATO.
Trump wrote on his own social platform "Truth Social" on the 2nd: "It is absurd for the United States to continue to follow this one-way path when there is an unequal relationship. They are not even on our side!"
He also included pictures showing the defense expenditures of NATO member countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Poland. The defense expenditure of the United States exceeds 900 billion US dollars, which is far higher than that of other NATO countries.
United States President Donald Trump IC photo
This year’s NATO summit is scheduled to take place in Ankara, Turkey, from July 7th to 8th local time. European News TV noted that as the summit approached, Trump suddenly published a statement questioning NATO, casting a shadow over the summit.
After the United States attacked Iran, European countries were reluctant to get involved in war and did not provide military support to the United States. Many countries, including Spain, also refused to open their military bases or airspace to US military aircraft. This angered Trump greatly, who repeatedly criticized NATO in public appearances.
On June 24th, local time, Trump met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and expressed his disappointment with NATO countries such as Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He hoped that European allies would maintain ‘loyalty’ to the United States.
Trump also demanded that other NATO members increase their defense spending, calling on European countries to play a leading role in European defense efforts. Last year, NATO member leaders agreed on defense spending targets, deciding to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, with 3.5% allocated for core military expenses and 1.5% for protection of key infrastructure and cybersecurity.
