Trump Demands NATO Allies Match U.S. Commitment To Prioritizing Military Spending Over Healthcare

BRUSSELS—Blasting member states for failing to contribute their “fair share,” President Trump demanded at a summit meeting Wednesday that NATO allies match the U.S. commitment to making military spending a far greater national priority than healthcare. “In the United States, we’ve gone above and beyond to make sure military expenditures are our number one concern above all else, including access to life-saving medications for sick people, and it’s high time other NATO countries did the same,” said Trump, lambasting German chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders who he remarked “really ought to be spending maybe even 50 percent of their GDP” on defense instead of endlessly sinking funds into essential medical care for their citizens. “It’s absolutely disgraceful how the United States comes in and picks up the slack for these nations who insist on throwing their money away on the prevention and treatment of deadly diseases. It’s an embarrassment, everyone’s laughing at us, and I’ll tell you what—we aren’t going to put up with it anymore.” Representatives from the 28 other NATO countries later issued statements concurring with Trump’s assessment that the United States has become a laughingstock.