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BRUSSELS (AP) – In a combative start to his NATO visit, President Donald Trump asserted Wednesday that a pipeline project has made Germany "totally controlled" and "captive to Russia" and blasted allies "defense spending, opening what was
Trump, in a testy exchange with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, took issue with the US protecting Germany as it strikes deals with Russia. I have to say, I think it is very hard when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia where we are supposed to be guarding against Russia, "Trump said at breakfast with Stoltenberg. "
The President appeared to be referring to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bring gas from Russia to the United States. Germany's northeastern Baltic coast, bypassing Eastern European countries like Poland and Ukraine and doubling the amount of gas Russia can send directly to Germany. The vast undersea pipeline is opposed by the US and some other EU members, who warn it could give Moscow more leverage over Western Europe.
Trump said "Germany, as far as I'm concerned, is captive to Russia" and urged NATO to look into the issue.
Stoltenberg pushed back, stressing that NATO members have been able to work with their differences. "I think that two world wars and the Cold War taught us that we are stronger together," he told the president, trying to calm tensions.
Trump later tweeted a video of the exchange.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also pushed back to the NATO headquarters for the summit shortly before the President, insisting that Germany makes its own decisions.
"I've experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union and I'm very happy Today we are united in the Federal Republic of Germany and can thus say that we can determine our own policies and make our own decisions and that it's very good, "she said.
The criticism was an unusual one coming from Trump , who has appeared to put a damn on Putin and who has dismissed the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia tried to undermine Western democracy by meddling in the 2016 US presidential election to help Trump win. During the campaign, Trump often resorted to the tactic of falsely accusing his opponents of things he had been criticized for doing.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Wednesday with Merkel, President Emmanuel Macron. Journalists will not be allowed to cover a meeting, she said.
The dramatic exchange of views for the future. The United States is paying far too much "We are going to have a meeting," Trump said as he arrived at the breakfast, describing the situation as "disproportionate and not fair to the taxpayers of the United States and we're going to make it fair. "
" They will spend more, "he later predicted. "
Trump has been pushing NATO members to reach their consensus-to-target of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic products on national defense by 2024
"Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in which "We're reimburse the US?"
That's not how the spending works. Two percent represents the amount of money to be spent on its own defense, or the US
NATO estimates that 15 members, or just over half, will meet the benchmark by 2024 based on current trends
During his campaign, Trump called NATO "obsolete" and suggested the US could not come back to the defense of members if they found themselves under attack – a shift that would represent a fundamental realignment of the modern world order. He also called Brussels has "hell hole" and "a mess." Trump for spurring NATO, Trump for spurring NATO nations to spend more on the issue defense, noting that the Europeans and Canada are projected to spend around $ 266 billion more by 2024.
"We said it, describing last year as marking the biggest increase in Europe
Trump taken care of, asking Stoltenberg why he thought it had happened.
"It's also because of your leadership, because your clear message," Stoltenberg responded.
Trump took credit for spending , telling the NATO chief that "because they have raised me about $ 40 billion over the last year." So I think the general secretary-likes Trump.He may be the only one, but that's OK with me. "
Trump , who arrived in Brussels A meeting of the North Atlantic Council, a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, and a meeting of the North Atlantic Council
Brussels is the the first leg of a weeklong European tour that will include stops in London and Scotland, the most important meeting of Russia with Vladimir Putin.
Trump predicted as he departed Washington that the "easiest" leg of the journey would be the sit-down with Putin – a commentary on the subject of a leader of the NATO summit, the European Council President Donald Tusk pushed back against Trump's constant He said: "Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you do not have all that many," he said.
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Associated Press Writers Ken Thomas, Darlene Superville and Zeke Miller in Washington and Maria Danilova in Moscow
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