Trump Lashes Out At Germany: 'Owes Vast Sums Of Money'
- 7 years ago
On Saturday, President Trump tweeted about his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
On Friday, President Trump hosted Germany’s leader in their first meeting which has been described as “awkward.”
However, the U.S. leader took the opportunity to deny such reports while criticizing the European country in a pair of Tweets Saturday morning.
Trump wrote, “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”
Trump and his team have been speaking out about the failure of many European countries, including Germany, to allocate at least two percent of their GDP to defense spending, per a NATO alliance rule, reports the BBC.
But Merkel has resisted the militarism of her country given its history and has also cited significant spending on development aid and refugees as a way they are contributing to global security.
In part because of conflicting views on this issue and others, like trade and Russia, Reuters says there were “some uncomfortable moments at a joint news conference on Friday in which they took pains to downplay differences that were hard to mask.”
On Friday, President Trump hosted Germany’s leader in their first meeting which has been described as “awkward.”
However, the U.S. leader took the opportunity to deny such reports while criticizing the European country in a pair of Tweets Saturday morning.
Trump wrote, “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”
Trump and his team have been speaking out about the failure of many European countries, including Germany, to allocate at least two percent of their GDP to defense spending, per a NATO alliance rule, reports the BBC.
But Merkel has resisted the militarism of her country given its history and has also cited significant spending on development aid and refugees as a way they are contributing to global security.
In part because of conflicting views on this issue and others, like trade and Russia, Reuters says there were “some uncomfortable moments at a joint news conference on Friday in which they took pains to downplay differences that were hard to mask.”