President Donald Trump gave the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, an invoice. Apparently, Trump wants Merkel and her country to pull their weight in NATO.
Rumours are circulating about how Pres. Trump estimated the debt of Germany to NATO, which hasn’t been settled for over a century already. The estimate, according to an unknown source, includes the interest of the debt.
Back in 2014, the NATO alliance which consists of 28 independent member countries required each of the 28 nations to pitch into NATO’s defense fund. Specifically, at 2% of the country’s GDP. As of now, there have been only five nations that complied with the requirement. The five nations that we’re talking about are Greece, Poland, Estonia, Great Britain, and the US.
It is noticeable how Germany is missing in this short list. In Pres. Trump’s meeting with the German Chancellor, it was said that he brought up the topic of Germany’s debt to NATO. As reported by Times of London, Pres. Trump’s staff put together the $374 billion invoice. A minister from Germany said that the invoice was ‘outrageous.’
The amount may be outrageous, but what is more outrageous is the fact that Germany, as well as the other nations that haven’t settled their debt yet, did not pay their bills which were long due. Moreover, they are expecting the taxpaying American people to do the debt settling for them.
It was said that Merkel ignored the bill. She may have done so, but she can’t continue to ignore her country’s debt to NATO for long. Trump wants Mexico to pay for the construction of the wall, and the Trump administration will also compel Germany and the other countries to pay their debts to NATO.
In a report by the Independent, the bill was backdated by Pres. Trump to the day when Germany pledged to pitch in for NATO’s defense, which happened even before the German Chancellor took her position. Merkel was asked to bring her country into compliance with the NATO agreement, and Trump’s job (or instructions) was to calculate how short Merkel’s country was, plus the interest.
If you are wondering why only five out of the twenty-eight nations are performing their obligations to NATO, the Trump administration thinks that it is because these countries have not been given enough pressure to pitch in. Pres. Trump said that if Germany wants to reap the benefits that can be enjoyed from being a member of NATO, then it must shoulder the agreed costs.
“I reiterated my strong support for the alliance (NATO) to Chancellor Merkel, as well as why it is important for them to contribute to NATO’s defense spending,” said Trump in a press conference, “A lot of nations owe huge sums of money for the past decade and it is unfair to the U.S. Germany and the other nations have to pay the amount that they owe.”
