(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump claimed credit for getting European allies to boost defense spending, citing a top alliance official who said U.S. pressure was paying off.
Trump commented on Twitter within minutes after Jens Stoltenberg, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s secretary-general, said on Fox News Sunday that NATO allies will add $100 billion in military outlays by the end of next year.
“We see that the clear message from President Trump is having an impact,” Stoltenberg said. “NATO allies have heard the president loud and clear and now NATO allies are stepping up. I’m happy with the fact that he has helped us now move on the question of burden-sharing within the alliance.”
Stoltenberg suggested that a tumultuous NATO summit last July had an impact. At the time, Trump reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO and said he’d won spending pledges by allies after reports that he had privately threatened to pull out of the post-World War II alliance.
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