Trump tensions peak ahead of NATO summit
Strains in the U.S.-European relationship are peaking just as President Trump prepares to face allies at this month’s critical NATO summit.
Trump has repeatedly complained that members aren’t meeting the alliance’s defense spending goal. But the meeting comes at a difficult time, with the broader U.S.-European relationship already under stress from Trump’s tariffs, his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and his overtures to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Those looming issues have raised fears of a replay of last month's contentious Group of Seven summit. The mood of the tense summit was embodied in a photo released by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, which showed her staring down a cross-armed Trump.
“We’ll have a repeat of the G-7 with Trump going to the summit and likely complaining once again about allies not spending enough money on defense," said James Goldgeier, a professor of international relations at American University. "And doing it in a public way designed to basically heighten the notion that he seems to have that NATO is just another bad deal for the U.S.”
Since his presidential campaign, Trump has railed against NATO allies for what he sees as an unfair reliance on the United States to foot the bill for their defense.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/395413-trump-tensions-peak-ahead-of-nato-summit
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