President Trump reportedly told his fellow heads of state that NATO is just “as bad” as the North American Free Trade Agreement during a meeting with G-7 leaders in Canada earlier this month.
“It will be an interesting summit,” Trump said, a source told Axios, relaying a quote from the official transcription of the private meeting as Trump had been discussing the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12. “NATO is as bad as NAFTA. It’s much too costly for the U.S,” he added.
Trump made his comments, the source told Axios, after telling the G-7 leaders that Crimea should still belong to Russia because everyone there speaks Russian.
Four officials from NATO member countries expressed concern to Axios regarding Russian aggression, and said they were looking for a sign from Trump that the U.S.supports the organization’s allies.
However, Trump considers NAFTA a disaster deal for the U.S., and Axios notes that linking NATO to the trade deal adds to European fears that Trump will look at the Brussels summit as a means to gripe about how the U.S. is paying too much for the military alliance.
