Despite their snickering, it appears that President Trump has squeezed some cash out of delinquent NATO countries.
In a Tweet on Friday:
"Many NATO countries have agreed to step up payments considerably, as they should. Money is beginning to pour in- NATO will be much stronger."
The statement may not only have to do with delinquent accounts. All NATO countries are required to spend at least 2% of their budget on their own military. The latest conclusive report shows that Estonia is the only other country to do so.
Trump is making good on his promises. This is exactly what he told the people during a campaign speech in Wisconsin on April 4th, last year:
“So I took a lot of criticism. They said, here was the headline. Donald Trump wants to dissolve NATO. That’s not what I said. And I said, and this isn’t the “Washington Post.” This is others. I said, Donald Trump wants to have people pay. Donald Trump wants to adjust for terrorism, which we have to do. Donald Trump wants to do all of the things that I explained. Donald Trump wants to get all of the back money that’s owed to us by all of these countries who have had a free ride or close to a free ride. And Donald Trump wants to make the United States rich again and great again. And wants to help other nations. I want to help other nations. But we don’t want to be the fools. We don’t want to be the dumb patsies that we are all over the world, because that’s what’s happening.”
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/only-us-and-estonia-meeting-nato-budget-goal-2015-2
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/04/04/trump-we-cant-be-dumb-patsies-nato-countries-must-pay-up/
