Trump finally commits to defend NATO allies

Gregory Korte | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump thanks Romania for NATO spending President Donald Trump held a press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in the White House Rose Garden Friday, thanking Romania for its increased contributions to NATO. (June 9)

WASHINGTON — President Trump gave what was perhaps his most unequivocal support for the U.S. pledge to provide a common defense to other NATO allies on Friday, ending months of ambiguity on his commitment to the treaty obligation.

"I'm committing the United States to Article 5. And certainly we are there to protect, and that's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force," Trump said Friday in the Rose Garden during a joint news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

"But yes, absolutely, I'd be committed to Article 5," he said.

Those words come two weeks after Trump stopped short of that commitment in a ceremony in Brussels to dedicate a memorial specifically to that provision of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty. His more lukewarm remarks on the treaty unsettled European allies, prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to suggest that Europe could no longer count on the United States for defense.

Article 5 requires each of the 28 allies to treat an attack on one ally as an attack on all. It's been invoked only once in its history, after the United States was attacked by terrorists in 2001.

But Trump also repeated his contention that NATO allies are in arrears in their payments to the alliance, misrepresenting the 2006 agreement that each nation commit to spending 2% of its economic output on defense.

"Do we ever go back and see about repaying the money from many, many years past?" Trump said. "Maybe you should pay that money back."

The 2% guideline, which NATO allies reiterated at the 2014 Wales summit, applies to each nation's own defense-related spending and not payments to other countries. It also contains no provision for past-year deficiencies in spending.

But Iohannis, the Romanian president, said Friday that Trump's Brussels speech told NATO what it needed to hear.

"I listened to his speech, and I liked it. Because you see, NATO is based on values, but it is ultimately a military alliance," he said. "Everyone needs to spend money. It’s called burden sharing."

Romania now spends 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense. Iohannis has pledged to increase that above 2% in response to Trump's complaints.

"Your involvement made so many nations conscious of the fact that we have to share the burden inside NATO, he told Trump.

Trump said he hoped other NATO countries would follow Romania's lead. Only five allies now meet the 2% guideline.

"Because of our actions, money is starting to pour in to NATO. The money is starting to pour in. Other countries are starting to realize that it's time to pay up and they're doing that," Trump said. "I'm very proud of that fact."

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