Appearing Thursday on the Fox Business Network, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed that President Donald Trump is making the military alliance “stronger.”
A transcript is as follows:
MARIA BARTIROMO: Is this true you and President Trump have formed this very close relationship?
JENS STOLTENBERG: We work closely together because we are concerned about the same things. We’re worried about the rise of terrorism and fighting terrorism, but also the importance of having fair burden-sharing within the NATO alliance. And NATO brings together North America and Europe, and of course, we have to share the burden in a fair way. He has been very clear that European allies and Canada have to spend more and his message having an impact. All European allies and Canada are investing more and this is making NATO stronger.
BARTIROMO: And you think they will get up to that two percent of GDP target by what is it, 2024?
STOLTENBERG: Yes, the target is to be there by 2024. More allies now meet the two percent target already. All allies have begun to increase defense spending and the majority of allies have plans in place to be there by 2024.