Trump: All NATO countries should spend 5% of GDP on defence, except US

US President Donald Trump believes that all NATO countries except the US should spend 5% of their GDP on defence.

Source: European Pravda; Trump speaking to journalists

Details: Trump was asked whether he still believes that NATO countries should allocate 5% of GDP to defence. The US president said he believes they should and went on to speak about the US.

"I don't think we should. But I think they should. We’ve been supporting NATO so long, in many cases, I believe, paying almost 100% of the cost. So I don't think we should, but I think that the NATO countries should, absolutely," Trump said.

Asked about Spain, which this week publicly rejected the Alliance's plan to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and defence-related spending to 1.5% of GDP, the US president said "NATO’s going to have to deal with Spain".

"Spain’s always been a very low payer. Spain has to pay what everybody else has to pay. Spain has been notorious for low pay," Trump said.

Trump also could not resist criticising Canada.

"You know who else is a low payer, just about the lowest? A place called Canada. Because Canada said, ‘Why should we pay when the United States will protect us for free?’" he said.

Read also: No promises, just funding: NATO Hague summit to approve new ways to support Ukraine in fight

Background: 

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte asking him to consider a "more flexible formula" for defence spending.
• Madrid's position has sparked outrage among other NATO members, who fear it could derail a compromise to satisfy US President Donald Trump.
• The permanent NATO representatives reportedly held an urgent meeting on Friday 20 June to discuss Spain's blocking of the agreement to increase defence spending.

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