NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he agrees with President Trump on spending issues and thinks Trump’s leadership was responsible for making other NATO countries pay more.
Trump took to opportunity to blast the media for not reporting it.
WATCH:
During a joint appearance, Stoltenberg said, “First of all, it’s great to see you again, Mr. President. And good to have you here for a summit. And we are going to discuss many important issues at the summit. Among them is defense spending. And we all agree that we have to do more. I agree with you that we have to do make sure that our allies are investing more. The good news is that allies have started to invest more in defense.”
He continued, “After years of cutting defense budgets, they have started to add billions to their defense budgets. And last year was the biggest increase in defense spending across Europe and Canada in that generation.”
Trump then asked why the spending increase happened last year.
“Why was that last year?” Trump asked.
“It’s also because of your leadership, because of your carried message…” Stoltenberg responded.
Trump then pointed to the press and poked at the media for not reporting on his successes.
“They won’t write that, but that’s okay,” Trump said.
Trump points to the media during NATO conference. MSNBC screenshot
“No, I have said it before, but the thing is that it really has,” Stoltenberg said. “And your message is having an impact, and we are going to build on that to make sure that we have further increases.” (RELATED: President Trump Just Turned To An Olympic Athlete And Congratulated Her In The Trump-iest Way Possible)