U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he is greeted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before a bilateral breakfast ahead of the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said his efforts had pushed other NATO countries to contribute more to the Western defense alliance but it was still not enough to offset the burden on U.S. taxpayers.

“Over the last year, about $40 billion more has been given by other countries to help NATO but that’s not nearly enough,” Trump told reporters ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels.

“The United States is spending far too much and other countries are not paying enough, especially some.

“This has been going on for decades and it is disproportionate and not fair to the taxpayers of the United States and we’re going to make it fair. I want to compliment the secretary general, he’s worked very hard on this problem.”