EU members contradict assertion that US prez secured notable concessions
(From L to R, first row) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May at the NATO headquarters. Pics/Getty Images, AFP
US President Donald Trump has claimed victory at the NATO summit, saying progress had been made on defence spending only hours after throwing the Brussels meeting intodisarray with fresh attacks on European allies.
ADVERTISEMENT
Asked whether he had threatened to pull out of NATO, Trump did not directly deny it. He told a surprise press conference before he was scheduled to leave that he only told people he would be "extremely unhappy" if spending was not increased. Trump claimed he could pull the US out of NATO without the approval of Congress. "I think I probably can but that's unnecessary," he said.
He said the alliance members had agreed to reach spending two per cent of GDP on defence faster than previously planned and claimed financial commitments would increase beyond that in future. But other delegations and NATO officials contradicted Trump, saying he had secured no significant concessions and their defence spending plans remained basically the same as they had been before.
Brexit plan called 'real blow' to City
The UK government's new blueprint for Brexit yesterday drew a firm thumbs-down from the City, which warned it would damage both the all-important finance sector and the wider economy, but industry appeared happier. The government has been at pains to map out a future customs plan to govern post-Brexit trade with the EU. But its new "white paper" gave little detail about the future of services, which account for 80 per cent of the economy.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
