President Trump has changed his tune on NATO ever since the organization agreed to up its military spending.
Mr. Trump said NATO “is now becoming the opposite” of obsolete.
“I do think it was [in the] past, and it was very unfair because the United States paid for almost 100% of it,” he told the BBC on Tuesday. “But now they’re paying their own bills, and I think that’s much better.”
Mr. Trump has been an outspoken critic of NATO and argued they weren’t pulling their own weight with defense spending, leaving the U.S. to carry the load.
During a NATO summit last month, the allies agreed to up the spending from 2% of gross domestic product to 5% by 2035.
“United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long- term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations,” said a joint declaration out of NATO.
Mr. Trump’s change of heart followed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s visit to the White House on Monday. During the visit, Mr. Trump announced that the U.S. would send more weapons to Ukraine, including Patriot missile defense batteries, and NATO members would be covering the cost.
“We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them. We, the United States, will not be having any payment made,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and [NATO] is going to be paying for it.”
Mr. Rutte said member countries “all want to be part of this.”
“And this is only the first wave. There will be more. So, what we will do is work through the NATO systems to make sure that we know what Ukrainians need so that we can make packages,” he said.
Mr. Trump also threatened Russia with 100% tariffs if the country does not accept a ceasefire deal with Ukraine within 50 days.
The president has grown increasingly frustrated with Russia’s refusal to find an end to the ongoing war, something Mr. Trump promised to end on the first day of his second term, something he was unable to do.
On Tuesday, the president also said Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly backed out of peace deals.
Mr. Trump said he is “not done” with the Russian leader, and he’s “disappointed in him.”
“I thought we had a deal done four times, and then you go home and you see he just attacked a nursing home or something in Kyiv,” he said. “I said, ‘What the hell was that all about?’”
When asked if he trusted Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump paused and then said: “I trust almost nobody.”
