"I could do it but I'm not leaving NATO". This was stated by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, during a press conference at the conclusion of the summit in Brussels. Previously, German diplomatic sources had revealed that the number one in the White House had threatened to leave NATO if the allies did not increase their military spending as soon as possible. Trump also announces an additional 33 billion on the way but is promptly denied by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "The figure evoked corresponds to the increase in spending which is already part of the strategy to hit the target of 2% of GDP" explains Macron, underlining that "everyone has committed to the trajectory" already agreed. "Trump has reaffirmed his commitment to NATO and I think it's a good thing" the French president cuts short. He adds Prime Minister Conte: "Italy has inherited spending commitments regarding the contribution to NATO that we have not altered". So no more money except the gradual approach to the 2% target by 2024, which has already been defined.
The Donald instead maintains that now "the Alliance is stronger than before" and that thanks to his intervention all NATO members are now "in agreement on the need to increase their contribution".
Trump goes so far as to give figures, in fact: "There will be an increase quantifiable in 33 billion dollars more - he explains - with the contribution of the various countries without taking into account the United States".
In reality, an extraordinary restricted meeting of the Atlantic Council was convened after the threat. Trump, according to various sources, during his speech at the working session dedicated to relations between NATO and Ukraine, returned to attack Germany. And he also addressed the other allies in even harsher tones than those used yesterday.
As always, the attacks had been preceded by an opening fire on Twitter: "American presidents have tried for years without success to make Germany pay more - wrote Trump - and the other rich NATO nations for their protection from Russia", but these "pay only a fraction of the cost", instead "the US pays tens of billions of dollars in excess to subsidize Europe, and loses a lot on trade".
Trump also confirmed today that "all NATO nations must meet their 2% commitment, and this must eventually rise to 4%". And then a new attack on Germany also on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects the country to Russia without passing through the Baltic republics and Poland: "And what's more, Germany has just started paying Russia, the country to it wants protection, billions of dollars for its energy needs stemming from a new gas pipeline from Russia. It is not acceptable".
Meanwhile, during the NATO summit, the Italian defense minister, Elisabetta Trenta, proposed that Italian investments for cybernetic security at national level should be included in 2% of defense expenditure: "It is a question - she underlined - of a investment that concerns the civil sector as well as the military one and our objective is that the Italian efforts to strengthen its internal security are accounted for in the 2%. This obviously applies to every single State, because the security of each of us is the security of the Alliance itself. I therefore hope that all efforts made on cyber security and related resources are fully included in defense expenditures”.
Updated at 20:25
