Published 29 Aug, 2026 02:47
U.S. president Donald Trump and U.S. typical to NATO Matthew Whitaker. © Getty Images / Jakub Porzycki/
Europe is only 4th among Washington's global safety priorities," stated NATO typical Matthew Whitaker, while president Donald Trump pressures alliance members to take greater work for their own defence.
In a Thursday conversation with Newsmax Whitaker, he outlined Washington's priorities as a consequence of Trump's national safety strategy.
"The defence of your territory is in the first place... Equally important, of course, is the Western Hemisphere on which we live” – said, then listing the Pacific region.
"European defence is besides a priority, but it takes 4th place".
Whitaker stated that changing the division of responsibilities within NATO would besides bring economical benefits to the US.
"Our European allies take work for the conventional defence of the European continent" said Whitaker.
"I think this is beneficial for American taxpayers."
Ambassador described NATO as an organization entering ‘new path’ under Trump, attributing to the president of the United States the merit of exerting force on another members of this American-led military alliance to importantly increase defence spending.
Whitaker reported that European NATO members and Canada have allocated an additional $139 billion to defence, including $60 billion for equipment and ammunition from American production.
At last year's NATO summit in The Hague, associate States agreed to increase defence and safety spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
Whitaker put together this fresh commitment with an earlier alliance goal of spending 2% of GDP – a request many members failed to meet.
“For 77 years our NATO allies have utilized the United States force” said Whitaker in an interview with Newsmax.
‘But now we will all be equally strong."
The Trump administration has repeatedly demanded that European NATO members cover most of their own defence costs.
The Pentagon is besides reviewing the presence of any 80,000 American soldiers presently stationed in Europe, and authorities are considering various variants of Washington's future military presence on this continent.
Translated by Google Translator
Source:https://www.rt.com/news/644790-europe-rank-us-security/
