‘In an unannounced phone call with NATO’s secretary general, Donald Trump acknowledged that the military alliance still has “enduring importance.” While the comment may come as a relieve to some European leaders, it runs contrary to his previous remarks.
A brief NATO statement released on Friday announced that US President-elect Donald Trump and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had both underlined the military alliance’s “enduring importance and discussed how NATO is adapting to the new security environment, including to counter the threat of terrorism” in what appears to have been an impromptu telephone conversation.
The statement added that “progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing,” while acknowledging that the United States spends far more on defense than its European allies. In addition, it said that the bloc’s leaders are looking forward to meeting with Trump during the NATO Summit in Brussels next year.’
