WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Trump went on to call the alliance “obsolete,” arguing it should change its focus to “additionally” address terrorism.
N.A.T.O. is obsolete and must be changed to additionally focus on terrorism as well as some of the things it is currently focused on!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 March 2016
In President Barack Obama’s 2017 budget, he pledged $3.4 billion to reassure NATO allies in the European Reassurance Initiative.
We pay a disproportionate share of the cost of N.A.T.O. Why? It is time to renegotiate, and the time is now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 March 2016
In 2015, the United States paid nearly 75 percent of NATO’s budget, according to data compiled by the European Leadership Network.
Beginning in 1999, NATO included terrorism in its strategic threat assessment. In 2001, NATO invoked its Article 5 commitment to collective defense in response to the terrorist attacks against the United States.