Trump Stirs More Discord, but Reaffirms Support for NATO

BRUSSELS – President Trump reaffirmed support for NATO on Thursday, but only for the sake of a new threat.

The United States has yet to declare its commitment to the trans-Atlantic alliance "remains very strong" ahead of its summit meeting President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, he continued to assail close In the closing hours of the two-day gathering in Brussels with the leaders of the other nations, he forced a last minute to meet his needs. Then he called a news conference to claim to defend their budgets "like they never have before."

That claim was quickly dismissed by the leaders of both Italy and France, who disputed that they had made

Through it all possible threats from Russia – and NATO's plans to keep it in check – hung over the summit meeting, as fears in Europe have risen over Mr. Putin's increasing assertiveness.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump dismissed concerns that his relationship with Russia was too cozy, or that his hardball tactics at NATO had played in the hands of Mr. Putin, whom he is to meet in Helsinki, Finland , next week. But after 48 hours of overt conflict with allies – and the second international summit in two months where he has been sparred openly with European leaders – he said he looked forward to a positive encounter with the Russian president.

"I hope that we ' re going to be able to get along with Russia; I think we will probably be able to, "Mr. Trump said. "We go into that meeting not looking for so much."

The White House hastily called the news conference amidst reports that Mr. Trump had been unhappy with a closed door enough on their militaries. Mr. Trump used the news to hail himself, again, as a "stable genius," saying he deserved "total credit" for pushing the allies to increase their military spending by

According to a person briefed on the meeting, Mr. Trump told other NATO leaders that they would not meet the 2% standard by January, the United States would "go it alone," a comment that some (Other news reports quoted diplomats who said the president used to speak differently – saying that he would "do my own thing," – but he was not specific about what he meant in either case.

The contentious session prompted NATO leaders to meet the President of the United States of America in the United States of America (19659002) Mr. Trump sidestepped the questions, and said, "I think I probably can, but that is unnecessary," because, he said, "countries have stepped up today" they have never stepped up before. "

" The United States was not being treated fairly, but now we are, "Mr. Trump said. "I believe in NATO. I think NATO has a very important – probably the greatest ever done. "

But Mr. Trump then quickly turned to asserting that the United States shouldered" probably 90 percent of the cost of NATO. "American contributions actually represent about 67 percent of

The United States 22 percent of NATO's budget, which covers things like offices, salaries and other equipment used in joint operations. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, of the $ 603 billion that the United States spends on the military each year, about $ 31 billion goes to Europe.

NATO members have pledged to devote at least 2 percent of gross domestic product to military spending by 2024. But Mr. Trump, after six years away, then abruptly said Wednesday that they must do so, and the figure should be 4 percent.

Mr. Trump's Air Force One and flew to London for the next leg of his trip, he left allies struggling to explain what had transpired. President Emmanuel Macron of France said that the meetings were "active and demanding," but he said "Mr. Trump's assertions that the NATO member states have agreed to nothing that was not already in place. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy sounded a similar theme

"A communiqué was issued yesterday," Mr. Macron said. "This release is clear. It reaffirms the 2 percent by 2024 commitments. That's all. "

Mr. Conte said, "Italy inherited spending commitments to NATO, commitments that we did not change, so no increase in spending."

Mr. Macron added that the meeting ended with a stronger alliance because of Mr. Trump's reaffirmation of his commitment to it

Mr. Macron said, "Generally, I do not comment on what goes on behind the scenes, but at no time did President Trump – ne bilaterally nor multilaterally – say that he was intending to leave NATO. "

Mr. Trump himself said, "It all came together at the end, and yes, it was a little tough for a little while." He added, "But ultimately, you're in this rally. the last two days. "

Buoyed by what he considered to be his achievements at NATO, Mr. Trump also previewed his plans for his meeting with Mr. Putin. He said he would discuss the extension of a nuclear arms control and other violations, and might have the subject of possible stopping military exercises in the Baltics, a goal of Mr. Putin's. He evaded a question about whether he would recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Instead, he blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for the annexation, saying, "President Obama allowed that to happen. That was on his watch, not on my watch. "

Mr. Trump said that, after a weekend in Scotland at Turnberry – a golf course and trump business that he plugged into the news conference as "magical" – he would go "to a pretty hot spot" to meet with Mr. Putin.

Asked to characterize his relationship with the Russian president, Mr. Trump referred to Mr. Putin as a "competitor," not an enemy, and would like to have a "loose meeting" with the Russian president would result in a substantive policy outcome.

"Trump said," and maybe it's not. "

When asked if Mr. Putin presented a security threat, Mr. Trump offered a compliment grudging: "Hey, I do not want to be him to be. And that's, I guess, why we have NATO. "