Germany rejects Trump's claim it owes NATO and U.S. 'vast sums' for defense

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters

Sun Mar 19, 2017 | 6:41am EDT

Germany rejects Trump's claim it owes NATO and U.S. 'vast sums' for defense

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Germany owes NATO and the United States "vast sums" of money for defense.

"There is no debt account at NATO," von der Leyen said in a statement, adding that it was wrong to link the alliance's target for members to spend 2 percent of their economic output on defense by 2024 solely to NATO.

"Defense spending also goes into UN peacekeeping missions, into our European missions and into our contribution to the fight against IS terrorism," von der Leyen said.

She said everyone wanted the burden to be shared fairly and for that to happen it was necessary to have a "modern security concept" that included a modern NATO but also a European defense union and investment in the United Nations.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-defence-idUSKBN16Q0D8

[Jonny Appleseed]

1. I don't get why anyone's mad about us paying a disproportionate amount to NATO

When you spend 700 billion dollars on your military, it's morally reprehensible not to help others around the world.

[tammywammy]

3. His complaint has nothing to do with what we pay for NATO

We do pay towards administrative cost. Trump's whole complaint is about countries not spending 2% of GDP towards defense. And they have until 2024 to meet that requirement.

[Blue_Tires]

2. Trump and his lackeys once again demonstrate they don't have the slightest idea

of how NATO funding works...

While Germany could spend more for defense, they "OWE" us jack fucking shit, and Trump acting like a mafia debt collector is beyond the pale...