President Trump Reportedly Threatened to Pull the U.S. Out of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took a more diplomatic approach on the spending row, saying that Trump was having an “impact” while refusing to confirm any increase beyond what was agreed in the statement.

Trump said he made his anger clear to allies on Wednesday.

At the press conference on Thursday, a Croatian reporter dared ask if Trump would change his mind once he leaves Brussels for London.

But he said that since a year ago around an additional 33 billion dollars, not including the United States, had been raised and it was now “unnecessary” to withdraw from the organisation.

Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor, James Bays, described the unplanned meeting on Thursday as “explosive”, adding that it disrupted a scheduled North Atlantic Treaty Organisation discussion on Ukraine and Georgia. People are paying money that they never paid before. They’re happy to do it.

The United States makes by far the best military equipment in the world-the best jets, the best missiles, the best guns, the best everything. It will be Trump’s first working visit to the United Kingdom since he became President, and massive protests in London are expected.

Trump poured fuel on the Brexit fire just hours before he was due to land there, saying he was not sure that Britons had voted for the Brexit plan presented by Prime Minister Theresa May, which has triggered a British cabinet rebellion.

Plus, there’s a cliffhanger: Trump heads to Helsinki on Monday to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He urged allies on Wednesday to double their defense spending targets to 4 percent of GDP. “I’m very strong on immigration”.

“The commitment was at two percent and that’ll be going up quite a bit higher than that”, he said.

Not only did Trump demand on Twitter on Thursday that countries meet the 2% level by this year, not 2024, but he also said all countries should eventually hit 4%, which is more than even the USA now spends.

And while all member nations have agreed, in principle, to work toward the 2 percent spending goal, each country is ultimately beholden to unique political processes and must consult with their respective parliaments to secure increased military spending. Macron said France, which previous year spent 1.8 percent on defence, would meet the target by the 2024 deadline.

The emergency session came amid reports that Trump had threatened to leave the pact if allies didn’t immediately up their spending.

Several diplomats and officials said, however, that his undiplomatic intervention – including pointing at other leaders and addressing Merkel as “you, Angela” – had irritated many. One official said the morning meeting Thursday was taking place against the backdrop of Trump threatening allies to “go it alone” unless if they agree to increase their defense budgets immediately.

According to the survey, 53 percent of voters think that Trump is “not tough enough” on Moscow, while just about 5 percent said that the US president has been “too tough”.

“Second, the President is under attack himself for the way he treats Putin and the way he may treat Putin in Helsinki”, this diplomat said, who suggested Trump’s approach was “part of his strategy of blaming others”. The U.S.is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. “All I can do is say ‘Did you?’ and ‘Don’t do it again”.

Going into the week he was pressuring them to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, a figure that was established in 2002 and reaffirmed in 2014 when the allies not meeting the target pledged to reach it within a decade.