Donald Trump speaks during a rally on May 27, in San Diego. | AP Photo NATO: Trump had nothing to do with intel post

Donald Trump bragged to Bloomberg Wednesday that his criticism led to NATO’s plan to create a new high-level intelligence post to help combat terrorism. But NATO says Trump had nothing to do with it.

The presumptive Republican nominee has sniped at the trans-Atlantic treaty organization throughout his campaign, arguing that the U.S. disproportionately funds NATO even though it “doesn’t cover terrorism.” Trump told Bloomberg that the creation of NATO’s new assistant secretary general for intelligence position is “all because of me.”


NATO disputed Trump’s claim and said the new position has no connection to the presumptive GOP nominee or any other candidate.

“The creation of a new post of assistant secretary general for intelligence has been considered for some time, as part of our ongoing efforts to increase NATO's readiness to deal with threats such as hybrid warfare,” a NATO official told POLITICO. “So there's no connection to any national election campaign.”

The new position has yet to be officially created and its details are still being hammered out among the allies, the official said. The Wall Street Journal story that initially reported the move by NATO said the new post is likely to be formally created next month.