President Trump told supporters at a Pennsylvania rally Thursday night that, in the time frame of an hour, he persuaded NATO countries to pay an additional $200 billion and that the money will go toward protecting the 29 countries from Russia.
“We’ve been defending Europe and they are not paying their bills. So I went in and said, ‘Folks, you’ve got to pay up. You’re delinquent!'” Trump said at an event in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “They will be paying $200 billion. It took me one hour, but it was a rough hour.”
You have to understand, this is money to guard against Russia. I wouldn’t say Putin is thrilled about that. Not thrilled,” said Trump, whose campaign is at the center of a federal probe looking into whether it colluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration during the 2016 election.
The Republican leader touted in 2017, his first year attending a NATO meeting as president, he was able to reel in an additional $44 billion in funding for the organization.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement following the June meeting that an extra $41 billion, not $44 billion, had been allocated by allied countries.
“The allies have heard his message loud and clear and his strong message on defense spending is having a real impact. Just since last time President Trump was here in Brussels at the NATO meetings last May European allies have added $41 billion extra for defense funding so we have turned the corner,” he said.
In a 2014 agreement, NATO countries agreed to pay 2 percent of gross domestic product on their own defense by 2024. Trump did not cite how he arrived at the $200 billion estimation.
