President Donald Trump said Saturday that Germany owes “vast sums of money” to NATO and the U.S. “must be paid more” for providing defense, reiterating his stance that European allies need to meet their end of the bargain if they are to continue benefiting from the military alliance.
Trump’s tweet from his Florida resort, where he is spending the weekend, came the day after his first meeting with Germany’s leader.
“Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel,” the president wrote. “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 Merkel tried to sidestep their differences in their meeting at the White House on Friday, but it was punctuated by some awkward moments.
During a photo op in the Oval Office, the two did not shake hands before reporters. During a joint news conference later, Trump pushed back against the European notion that his “America First” agenda means he’s an isolationist, calling such a suggestion “another example of … fake news.” And he referred to the U.S. as “a very powerful company,” before quickly correcting that to “country.”
Prior to his inauguration, Trump declared NATO “obsolete” but has since modified his stance, telling European leaders the alliance remains of strategic importance. Only the U.S. and four other members currently reach the benchmark of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense. Germany currently spends 1.23 percent of its GDP on defense, but it is being increased.
Trump said the U.S. would do “fantastically well” in its trade relations with Germany. Though he has been deeply critical of foreign trade agreements, Trump suggested he was only trying to revise trade deals to better serve U.S. interests, rather than entirely pull back from the world.
Trump said trade agreements have led to greater trade deficits. The U.S. trade deficit with Germany was $64.9 billion last year, the lowest since 2009, according to the Commerce Department.
On economic issues, Merkel said the “success of Germans has always been one where the German success is one side of the coin and the other side of the coin has been European unity and European integration.”
Trump backed Britain’s departure from the EU and has expressed skepticism of multilateral trade agreements.
The two leaders showed minimal rapport in their first encounter, a departure from Merkel’s warm relations with Obama. At the start of the news conference, Merkel sought to break the ice, saying that it was “much better to talk to one another than about one another.”
The meetings at the White House included discussions on fighting the Islamic State group, the conflict in Afghanistan and resolving Ukraine’s conflict.
The talks aimed to represent a restart of a relationship complicated by Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail. As a candidate, Trump frequently accused the chancellor of “ruining” Germany for allowing an influx of refugees and other