Global Geopolitical Series: Washington and Brussels exchange jabs ahead of NATO summit

The U.S. President Donald Trump will soon be heading towards Europe to attend several key meetings. First, he would be attending the two-day NATO leaders’ summit in Brussels; then would travel to the United Kingdom for a four-day visit, where he would meet the queen herself and finally, he would be meeting with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland on July 16th.

It looks like that the NATO leaders’ meeting in Brussels will be a tough one as both President Trump and European Council President Donald Tusk exchanged jabs ahead of the summit. Speaking at a rally in Montana just days ago President Trump criticized Europe and NATO by saying that at one hand Washington is paying almost 70-90 percent of the NATO budget, and on the other hand it is being ripped off by the European Union on trade by erecting trade barriers. The EU enjoys a goods trade surplus of $151 billion according to 2017 data. President Trump also questioned; why America is protecting the EU from Russia when Germany is building a gas pipeline with Russia and paying billions of dollars. President took to Twitter to vent his frustration once again, “The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable. While these countries have been increasing their contributions since I took office, they must do much more. Germany is at 1%, the U.S. is at 4%, and NATO benefits....... ...Europe far more than it does the U.S. By some accounts, the U.S. is paying for 90% of NATO, with many countries nowhere close to their 2% commitment. On top of this the European Union has a Trade Surplus of $151 Million with the U.S., with big Trade Barriers on U.S. goods. NO!”

And he continued,

“Getting ready to leave for Europe. First meeting - NATO. The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer. On top of that we lose $151 Billion on Trade with the European Union. Charge us big Tariffs (& Barriers)! NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States must pay LESS. Very Unfair!”

In response to President Trump’s criticism of Europe, the European Council President Donald Tusk said that he wants to address President Trump directly, “for a long time now has been criticizing Europe almost daily for, in his view, insufficient contributions to the common defense capabilities and for living off the US…Europe was first to respond on a large scale when the US was attacked and called for solidarity after 9/11…….European soldiers have been fighting shoulder to shoulder with American soldiers in Afghanistan. 870 brave European men and women sacrificed their lives, including 40 soldiers from my homeland, Poland”. Mr. Tusk said that he wanted “to dispel the American president’s argument which says that the US alone protects Europe against our enemies and that the US is almost alone in this struggle.”

Mr. Tusk also took to Twitter to address President Trump’s Twitter criticism directly, “Dear @realDonaldTrump. US doesn’t have and won’t have a better ally than EU. We spend on defense much more than Russia and as much as China. I hope you have no doubt this is an investment in our security, which cannot be said with confidence about Russian & Chinese spending :-)”

The two-day meeting, which begins tomorrow will be a crucial one and in every way looks like it’s going to be a tense one.