German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Sunday he will dedicate at least two percent of the country's GDP to defense, fully satisfying membership requirements for the NATO alliance. For years Germany has been paying well below the requirement and committed amount to deter Russian aggression.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a massive boost in defense spending on Sunday that he says will bring the nation's investments above the key 2% commitment of GDP, as the Ukraine conflict forces Berlin to rethink its foreign policy. pic.twitter.com/9Jg8lQxKpD
— DW Politics (@dw_politics) February 27, 2022
Thunderous applause and standing ovations in German Parliament when @Bundeskanzler Scholz announces that from now on Germany will spend 2% on defense. That means just to match that German NATO contribution Russia needs to spend 6%. pic.twitter.com/f57SOPatVk
— Frederik Cyrus Roeder (@FredCyrusRoeder) February 27, 2022
But it wasn't so long ago that President Donald Trump repeatedly urged all European countries, including Germany, to step up and fulfill their commitments to NATO.
"What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy? Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment? The U.S. is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025," Trump tweeted in July 2018.
President Trump pushed NATO members to meet their treaty obligations under the 2014 Wales Summit and increase military expenditures to 2% GDP. We spend 3.5%. I’m glad Chancellor Scholz has come around to this during a crisis. Welcome back Germany. pic.twitter.com/M3itopsum6
— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) February 27, 2022
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In fact, at a NATO meeting in 2018 Trump pointed out how absurd it was that Germany was entering into oil and gas contracts with Russia while demanding the United States foot the bill for their defense against Vladimir Putin.
Here’s Donald Trump a couple of years ago pointing out that Europe, especially Germany, was going to be held hostage by Russian oil and that it represented a massive threat to NATO. He was right. Watch this: pic.twitter.com/ouZCKY7wz5
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 25, 2022
Watch the full exchange below:
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