Trump praises Nato states as summit prepares to lift defence spending target
The president was speaking at a preliminary press conference in The Hague that was dominated by his rejection of overnight reports that Iran's nuclear sites were not destroyed in US bombing, and where he was also praised by the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, for being the 'daddy'.
Asked about Nato before a morning plenary session of the leaders of all 32 Nato countries, where they will sign off on the spending increase, Trump said: 'We're with them all the way. They have very big things to announce today.
'I've been asking to go up to 5% for a number of years and they're going up to 5%, from 2%, and a lot of people didn't even pay the 2%. I think that's going to be very big news. Nato's going to become very strong with us.'
Under the new plan, Nato members will commit to lifting defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, of which 3.5% is core military spending and the rest is infrastructure, intelligence, cybersecurity and other spending allies can already match.
Trump's comments bode well for the alliance, which Trump has in the past doubted, complaining that its other members from Europe and Canada do not spend enough on defence while taking advantage of the US security umbrella.
Eager to maintain Trump's upbeat mood, Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister, responded with praise. 'I want to state that without President Trump this would not have happened,' and said that today would come 'the big splash'.
The new targets, Rutte continued, were 'not about US taxpayers paying more' – with the US nearly in line with the 3.5% military spending target – but about 'Europe and Canada paying more' to in most cases increase their defence budgets.
Trump agreed and said that his predecessor Joe Biden had failed to make any progress on the issue. 'When Biden was here it just died, it just died, like everything else died,' he said.
The secretary general also said that Trump's bombing of Iran's nuclear sites with 14 13,000kg (30,000lb) bunker-busting bombs, was 'extremely impressive' and sent a signal to other countries beyond Iran that Trump was a 'a man of peace' who was willing to use the 'enormous strength of the US military'.
After a discussion about the damage to Iran's nuclear sites, which included sweeping criticism by Trump of CNN and the New York Times for reporting on the US damage assessments, Rutte sought to end the discussion with further praise.
Recalling Trump's strong outburst on Iran and Israel on Tuesday – where he accused both countries of not knowing 'what the fuck they're doing' amid reports of breaches by both of a ceasefire he had imposed – Rutte said: 'Daddy sometimes has to use strong language.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
23 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Labour's plan to recognise Palestine even if Hamas does not release hostages SLAMMED by families of captives
A statement issued by the families' lawyers said the conditions for recognising a Palestinian state would be assessed in late-September DEAL SHOCK Labour's plan to recognise Palestine even if Hamas does not release hostages SLAMMED by families of captives Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HOSTAGE families blasted Labour's plan to recognise Palestine — after being told failure to release loved-ones will not stop the move. At a Foreign Office meeting, the relatives of four British-linked captives were told the UK would press ahead with state recognition even if Hamas terrorists refuse to free any of the 50 it still holds. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Sign up A statement issued by their lawyers Adam Rose and Adam Wagner KC said the conditions for recognising a Palestinian state would be assessed in late-September. But it added: 'It was made obvious to us at the meeting that, in deciding whether to go ahead with recognition, the release or otherwise of the hostages would play no part in those considerations.' They warned the UK's new position would not help 'and could even hurt' hostages. They said PM Sir Keir Starmer's plan 'appears to be to put pressure on the Israelis only to reach a deal'. It abandons efforts to press both sides, they add. Sir Keir outlined the route to recognising a Palestinian state this week. He was met with outrage by hostage families and concern from Jewish community leaders. Emily Damari, 29, who was held in Gaza and released in January, called it a 'moral failure'. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump vowed to 'get people fed' in Gaza after sending envoy Steve Witkoff to tour a US-backed aid site in Rafah. Hamas agrees to release 10 hostages as terror group issues ceasefire red lines after Trump pressured Israel to end war
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Deal or no deal? World leaders walk tightrope in tariff negotiations with Trump
It was grip-and-grin time for Ursula von der Leyen as she sat across from Donald Trump in Scotland last week, with the two announcing a deal for 15% tariffs on European imports that would avert a transatlantic trade war – but came at a stiff price for the 27-country bloc. After committing to a unilateral US raise on tariffs that came on the heels of a Nato commitment to increase defense spending to 5% of national GDPs, von der Leyen then thanked Trump 'for his personal commitment and his leadership to achieve this breakthrough'. 'He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker,' she said, as the US president beamed. The EU was one of just a number of parties to strike a deal with Trump before his temporary pause on new tariffs came to an end this week. And like many others, the guiding principle for the EU appeared to be: it can always get worse. 'This is clearly the best deal we could get under very difficult circumstances,' Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade chief, said. Others had a far bleaker interpretation of the dynamics, as Trump has wielded the threat of sky-high tariffs to cudgel his trading partners into submission. 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission,' wrote the French prime minister, François Bayrou. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán put it another way: 'It was Donald Trump eating Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast,' he said on his podcast. Later, he called her a 'featherweight'. World leaders have been forced to adopt a position of appeasement and pragmatism as they've approached the Trump administration, which has swung between imposing staggering tariffs on imports and then announcing last minute pauses and exclusions that suggest there is little rhyme or reason to the White House's tariff strategy. But the key factor for Trump appears to be taking whatever he can get. Countries across Asia exporting to the US were quickest to begin negotiating new trade deals with the White House. Vietnam was desperate to cut a 46% tariff imposed on the country, and Trump early last month announced that he had negotiated a 20% rate with Vietnamese negotiators. Except, it turned out, they believed that they had negotiated an 11% rate, Politico reported. And treasury secretary Scott Bessent this week admitted that he had never seen the deal, which the Vietnamese authorities have never confirmed. Trump reportedly used the trade threats along with other incentives in order to broker a recent peace between Thailand and Cambodia after fighting broke out along the border between the two countries. He soon announced a 19% rate – a significant cut from 49% for Cambodia and 36% for Thailand – which appeared more motivated by international politics than trade considerations. But while many countries in the region will breathe a sigh of relief as they avert sky-high tariffs, some see a new danger in the arbitrary redrawing of the US's trade relationship with the world. 'What we felt during this negotiation is that the US trade environment is fundamentally changing,' South Korean trade minister Yeo Han-koo said shortly after a deal was made to tariff imports at 15%, down from a threatened 25%. The two sides had made a verbally agreement but had not made a formal draft, he said, because the deal had to be struck so quickly. 'I think we are entering a new normal era,' he said. 'So, although we have overcome this crisis, we cannot be relieved, because we do not know when we will face pressure from tariffs or non-tariff measures again.' Leaders who have stood up to Trump are having the hardest time. Among others, Trump has focused his ire on Canada, which he has blamed for the fentanyl crisis in the US, a charge that Canada's prime minister Mark Carney has rejected. Trump on Friday announced that he would raise tariffs on Canada, a top trading partner, to 35%, as tough negotiations between the two sides continued. Carney, who had coined the elections slogan 'Elbows up, Canada' as a signal of defiance against Trump's tariff and annexation threats, said he was 'disappointed'. 'While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,' Carney said.
Glasgow Times
42 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report
Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge. 'I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,' Mr Trump said on Truth Social. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' Mr Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' The charge that the data was faked threatens to undercut the political legitimacy of the US government's economic data, which has long been seen as the 'gold standard' of economic measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have long accepted the data as free from political bias. After Mr Trump's initial post, labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that Ms McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director. 'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Ms Chavez-DeRemer said. Friday's jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated. The report suggested that the economy has sharply weakened during Mr Trump's tenure, a pattern consistent with a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation during June that appeared to reflect the price pressures created by the president's tariffs. 'What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,' Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Friday speech. Ms McEntarfer was nominated by Mr Biden in 2023 and became the commissioner of the Bureau of Labour Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants. The Senate confirmed Ms McEntarfer to her post 86-8, with now vice president JD Vance among the yea votes. Mr Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from a previously revised 125,000, and for June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%. 'No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Mr Trump wrote. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' Mr Trump has not always been so suspicious of the monthly jobs report and responded enthusiastically after the initial May figures came out on June 6 when it was initially reported that the economy added 139,000 jobs. 'GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!' Mr Trump posted at the time. That estimate was later revised down to 125,000 jobs, prior to the most-recent revision down to just 19,000. The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent US market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday.
