Donald Trump's claim that NATO is "obsolete" has caused "anxiety" among members of the military alliance, says Germany.

Eastern European NATO countries have been nervous about Moscow following Russia's annexation of Crimea and involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

Mr Trump, who said the organisation was "designed many, many years ago", complained several nations do not contribute their share financially and criticised its lack of a clear anti-terror strategy.

The US President-elect claimed NATO was "very important" to him but pointed out only five countries were "paying what they’re supposed to. Five. It's not much".

The alliance wants members to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defence. Only the US, UK, Greece, Poland and Estonia do so.


The current Obama government and NATO are sending more forces to Poland and the Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - to help deter potential Russian aggression.

But Mr Trump has previously said the US might not come to the defence of NATO allies that do not foot their share of the bill.

Trump open to removing Russia sanctions

German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said his latest comments about NATO had caused "surprise and anxiety" among members, while Russia said it agreed with the "obsolete" remark.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has threatened German carmakers with high import taxes.

The billionaire said they could face tariffs of up to 35% if they set up plants in Mexico instead of the US and try to export cars to the US from there.

Germany's economy minister and vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said such tariffs would make "the American auto industry worse, weaker and more expensive", adding: "We're not weak and inferior."

Mr Trump has also signalled sanctions against Russia could be eased if the US can strike a deal with Moscow to reduce stocks of nuclear weapons.

His comments come despite him prompting fears of a new arms race late last year when he said America needed to "greatly strengthen and expand" its nuclear capability.

The President-elect told The Times and Germany's Bild newspaper: "I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially."

Moscow has been hit with sanctions over its involvement in the Syrian war and the Ukraine conflict as well as alleged hacking during the US presidential campaign.

The Kremlin said it was too early to comment on his nuclear-sanctions proposal.

Last week, the President-elect acknowledged Russia carried out cyber attacks in the White House race, but has denied claims the country has compromising material on him.

Mr Trump did have some criticism for President Vladimir Putin, calling Moscow's intervention in Syria "a very bad thing" which had created a "terrible humanitarian situation".

Mr Trump also said he believed Europe's migration crisis had been the deciding factor in the UK's referendum vote to leave the EU, and that he thought German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an error when she opened Germany's doors to migrants.

He also said he would appoint his son-in-law Jared Kushner to broker a Middle East peace deal and urged Britain to veto any new UN Security Council resolution that slams Israel.

Mr Trump repeated his criticism of President Barack Obama's handling of the Iran nuclear agreement, calling it "one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen".

:: Watch live coverage of the inauguration on Sky News from 3pm and Sky Atlantic from 4pm on 20 January. Adam Boulton is in the US presenting a special Sky News programme - Trump: America's President - every day at midnight from now until Friday.

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