Trump says U.S. spends more on NATO than other members without 'any benefit'

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States spends more money on NATO than any other member state without getting "any benefit," renewing pressure on NATO allies to increase their contributions.

Trump made the remarks in a social media post ahead of a NATO summit set to take place in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, as his administration calls for allies, including South Korea, to increase their security "burden-sharing."

"The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing: U.S. 999 Billion Dollars, United Kingdom, 90.5 Billion Dollars, France, 66.5 Billion Dollars, Italy, 48.8 Billion Dollars, Poland, 44.3 Billion Dollars," he wrote on Truth Social.

"Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER," he continued.

The Trump administration has continued its calls for NATO allies to take on greater security responsibilities, though NATO members committed last year to spending at least 3.5 percent of their GDP annually on core defense expenditures by 2035 and up to 1.5 percent on other defense-linked areas.

In January, the Pentagon released its National Defense Strategy, in which it said that it will prioritize strengthening incentives for allies and partners to take "primary" responsibility for their own defense in Europe, the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula, with "critical but limited" support from U.S. forces.

Trump's has previously expressed his displeasure over NATO and other allies' lack of support for the U.S. military campaign against Iran.

Regarding South Korea, Trump said in April that the Asian ally was "not helpful" to the United States, despite the latter stationing its troops "in harm's way" in the Asian country, which he stressed is located "right next to" North Korea's nuclear forces.

Yonhap