Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the publication of the government’s Brexit white paper And here are comments from some reporters about what is happening at the Nato summit. From Der Spiegel’s Mathieu von Rohr Trump throws temper tantrum in NATO summit. Wants 2% defense spending this year and 4% by 2024 – or the US will "go it alone" according to media reports. Now crisis meeting of leaders.
Breaking up NATO before his meeting with Putin would seem like a nice present to his host. North Atlantic Council @NATO's highest political body is now in emergency session after @realDonaldTrump threatens "grave consequences" and effective #US pull-out from alliance if allies do not immediately meet higher spending targets. @POLITICOEurope BREAK: This is from a single, good source: @realDonaldTrump told @Nato allies this morning that unless wealthiest economies (read Germany, France, Spain, Italy) hit 2% GDP target by January “we are going to do our own thing” If this is confirmed then it is extraordinary threat This is from Reuters. US President Trump significantly toughened his tone on NATO defence spending at a summit on Thursday, singling out Germany, Spain and Belgium in a closed-door session in Brussels, two sources said. Breaking from a carefully-scripted session to focus on Ukraine and Georgia, Trump “forcibly restated his position on wanting NATO members to reach 2% spending target to a short a deadline,” one source said, referring to a NATO goal. US President Donald Trump did not threaten to pull out of NATO at the second day of a summit on Thursday, despite a tough rebuke of allies for spending too little on defence, two NATO sources told Reuters. Asked if he had issued the threat to quit the military alliance, both sources said: “No”. Continue reading... |