Trump targets Biden on NATO funding as summit kicks off

Former President Trump took aim at funding for NATO and the Ukraine war as President Biden opened the Western security alliance’s summit this week.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the amount the U.S. spends on NATO compared to the other alliance members. In social media posts on Tuesday, he took credit for the strength of NATO and suggested that the alliance would not exist without him.

“If it weren’t for me as President, there probably would be no NATO by now,” he said in a Truth Social post, adding that most of the NATO members “were delinquent, having paid very little.”

The former president said there is a “similar problem” regarding how much aid the U.S. is sending to Ukraine to help in its war against Russia. He called on Europe to “at least EQUALIZE” its burden, claiming that Biden has “never even asked them to do so.”

Trump has pushed for NATO members to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense — a milestone that Biden said 23 members are now hitting under his administration, during remarks Tuesday to kick off the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.

Biden noted, without mentioning Trump, that only nine NATO members were spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense in 2020.

“This year, 23 will spend at least 2 percent. And some will spend more than that. And the remaining countries that have not yet reached that milestone will get there soon,” Biden said.

In a separate post after Biden delivered his remarks, Trump criticized Biden again over the funding of the alliance and took credit for getting more members to pay their share. He also repeated his claim that he would have solved the war in Ukraine if he were president.

“Crooked Joe Biden didn’t build up money for NATO, he just got them to spend the money that I got Members to pay, on a stupid war that never would have happened if I were President, the Russia attack on Ukraine. I would have had that worked out in MINUTES!” Trump wrote.

“The only reason the Members have been paying is that they want U.S. protection from this devastating war should it come their way,” he wrote.

Earlier this year, Trump doubled down on comments in which he claimed to have told a foreign leader while he was in office that if their country didn’t contribute enough to NATO, then Russia can “do whatever the hell they want.”

Biden later called these remarks “appalling” and “dangerous,” warning that a second Trump term could hurt U.S. relations abroad.

As Biden has faced intense questions about his fitness for office following a worrying debate last month, he has repeatedly pointed to his efforts to unite NATO against Russia as proof of his competence and effectiveness on the world stage.