NATO summit: Has Trump shifted US alliance in Europe?

Trump says he “can’t say right now” if Russian President Vladimir Putin is a friend or foe. But that does not make it any easier to see their own priorities undermined. He also questioned the NATO’s most important feature: that an attack on one member should be considered an attack on all members.

The NATO alliance has been critical to the USA since its formation in 1949 when it was created in response to the Soviet Union.

Mr Trump has repeatedly complained that the U.S. is left to provide the lion’s share of funding for trans-Atlantic defence, as European states fail to meet Nato’s target of spending 2% of GDP on the military.

“Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you don’t have that many”.

Johnson has changed his tune on Trump since the pair clashed in 2015 when the then Presidential candidate claimed London had “no go” areas where Islamist radicals were dominant.

European Union officials also contend European Union tariffs on most USA imports are already low.

Speaking about his European trip, Trump said his sitdown with Putin might be “easiest” of all the meetings.

On the eve of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit meant to showcase the West’s unity and resolve to counter Russia, European Council President Donald Tusk directed a remark at Trump, saying “it is always worth knowing who is your strategic friend and who is your strategic problem”.

“In the actions we take, we are hoping to spur a multilateral response to address some of the world’s toughest challenges”, Mitchell said.

Trump’s Twitter post on Tuesday echoed those on Monday and his criticism at a rally of supporters in the United States last week in which he said that Washington was unfairly carrying nearly all the cost of defending Europe.

“It came as shock”. “We are stuck without USA leadership”.

European officials have expressed hopes that member states can paper over their differences, but European Union President Donald Tusk delivered a blunt message to the USA leader on Tuesday. The gesture met with muttered disagreement from European Union diplomats in the room.

The NATO secretary general has told Sky News he is confident the alliance will “stand united”.

“Dear President Trump: America does not have, and will not have a better ally than Europe”, Tusk added.

On defense, Europe and Canada have tried to show they are responding to Trump’s demands.

This comes amid the president’s ramped-up pressure on member nations to increase their contributions to the defense budget. Not fair to the US taxpayer.

Mr Trump also said the “British people should decide” Mrs May’s fate, in what appeared to be a suggestion that she should hold an election over her controversial plans.

“We’ve had violent falling outs over Libya, Iraq in 2003, but it’s qualitatively different in that the biggest of the allies doesn’t just have disagreements with us, but actually seems willing to walk away”, Valasek said.