President Donald Trump on Tuesday heralded the $33 billion increase in NATO spending but added that his Monday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was even better.
“I had a great meeting with NATO,” President Trump said of last week’s NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium. There Trump made an even more fervent than previously made push for NATO partners to increase defense spending to at least their two percent commitment.
“They have paid $33 Billion more and will pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars more in the future, only because of me,” Trump said in the Tuesday tweet. “NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia). The media only says I was rude to leaders, never mentions the money!”
Half an hour later Trump added, “While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, it is not being reported that way – the Fake News is going Crazy!”
Trump came in with strong words against Russian control during his first NATO summit meeting, a breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He pointed out security issues with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that the Germans paid a great deal to the Russians for. Trump highlighted the conflict with NATO allies spending a great deal to defend against Russia, who Germany now relies on as an energy supplier.
After the NATO summit Trump traveled to the U.K. for meetings with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II. During a post-meeting joint press conference with May at Chequers, May expressed support for Trump’s meeting with Putin.
The U.S. President has drawn a massive backlash from some in the media and politicians for a portion of his joint press conference with Putin. An MSNBC contributor went so far as to compare Trump’s comments on the Mueller 2016 election probe and nuclear proliferation to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 9/11 terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans. She also tried to accuse Trump of “treason” and called on people to act.
On Monday Trump pushed back saying he has “…GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people…” while encouraging a focus on the future, getting along with the other largest nuclear power Russia, and not only focusing on the past in order to “…build a brighter future.”
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has come out defending Trump and the meeting with Putin. Asked directly during the live Sydney Daily Telegraph website program if Trump was a “traitor” for holding the press conference with Putin, Turnbull directly replied, “Of course not. Donald Trump is a patriot.”
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook