Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has pledged to immediately call for a meeting between the U.S. and its European allies in NATO if he succeeds in his bid for the White House.
“After I am elected president, I will call for a summit with NATO and a separate summit with our Asian allies,” Trump told Washington lawmakers and national security experts during his first major foreign policy speech on Wednesday.
“In these summits … we will take a fresh look at how we can adopt new strategies to attack our challenges,” he said.
Trump, who recently described the Cold War-era alliance as “obsolete,” said he would also push our allies to expand their own defense spending to relieve the U.S. of the major share of the costs.
“Our allies must contribute towards their financial, political and human costs. But many aren’t doing so,” said the billionaire. “They look at the U.S. as weak and forgiving and feel no obligation to honor their agreements with us.”
Trump is set to travel to Indiana shortly after wrapping up his speech in Washington on Wednesday.
