Reference Message Network reported on June 21 that according to a report on the website of Germany's "Der Spiegel" on June 21, U.S. President Trump said that the new NATO defense spending target should apply to all member countries - except the United States.
Reportedly, when asked by reporters whether he expected the upcoming NATO summit next week to pass a future target for member states' defense spending reaching 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Trump said: "I think they should do so. I don't think we need to do this. But they should."
Trump claimed that Washington has supported NATO long enough, and in most cases "nearly 100% of the costs were borne by the United States." Therefore, he urged NATO countries to adopt new spending targets and criticized Spain and Canada as examples for their low proportion of defense spending.
The report said that under Trump's pressure, NATO plans to reach an agreement at the upcoming summit next week to achieve the 5% target recently advocated by Trump. The current U.S. defense spending already accounts for nearly 3.5% of GDP. Recently, Spain clearly expressed opposition to this new target. (Translated by Jiao Yu)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7518322394483556901/
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