DEFENSE/NATO/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday [4-2-19] his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defense is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more. Trump used a well-worn script about burden-sharing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in talks at the White House. The meeting came a day before NATO foreign ministers sit down in Washington for what is expected to be a session dominated by concerns about Russia. Trump, who has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying that NATO nations needed to pay more and ease the burden on the United States, said his tactics have paid off…The U.S. president said he would like to see NATO members pay more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product for defense. Trump told NATO leaders last year to increase defense spending to 4 percent of GDP. He said the United States pays 4.3 percent of its GDP to NATO.”
–Steve Holland, Lesley Wroughton, “Trump says NATO countries’ burden-sharing improving, wants more,” Reuters, April 3, 2019 11:21 am