Trump Threatens Sanctions on Germany Over Military Spending

Trump says Germans will increase spending: 'They have to'

During his visit to London, President Trump predicted that Germany would come forward with long-demanded military spending increases, insisting that “they have to,” and that “if they don’t want to, I’ll have to do something.”

Trump suggested that Germany would face trade sanctions if they didn’t increase military spending to the levels the US expects. Germany has long indicated that they have no intention of getting up to US-demanded levels, despite the US constantly reiterating those demands.

Trump described those nations under 2% of their GDP in military spending as “delinquent,” and insisted that they owe the US trillions of dollars for all the years they weren’t spending on their military.

Though NATO has agreed to consider 2% a “goal,” there is no mechanism within NATO by which this would mean that failing to reach it means they owe the United States a lot of money.

Trump went on to demand Germany not just meet the 2% goal, but spend 4% of their GDP, concluding his comments with “it’s not fair. It’s not fair.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.