NATO Braces for Trump Visit, But Fears May Be Overplayed
*By Alisha Haridasani*
President Donald Trump will head to Brussels this week where U.S. allies are bracing themselves for what could be an unpredictable NATO summit.
Member countries are worried that Trump will spurn them and threaten to unravel the organization, their fears stemming from the G7 meeting last month. Trump left that meeting without signing the joint statement from the seven nations and antagonizing important U.S. allies, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
But his trip to Brussels may end up being less controversial, said Dan Michaels, the Wall Street Journal Brussels bureau chief.
Trump has described NATO as “obsolete” on the campaign trail and, since taking office, has pressured the alliance to rebalance the amount of money that member nations pay.
“The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other country,” the president tweeted on Monday, a day before the summit's kick-off. “This is unfair, nor is is acceptable.”
NATO members are all expected to contribute to defense spending, with an official target of 2 percent of their GDP. However, many members pitch in far less than that figure, while the U.S. puts in more than 3 percent of its GDP.
The organization has in recent years been cleaning up in its act, a strategy that the group will likely tout at the summit to appease Trump.
Eight members are expected to hit the 2 percent spending target by the end of this year, and the organization has steadily increased the number of deployable troops, according to Michaels’ [reporting](https://www.wsj.com/articles/nato-under-fire-from-trump-to-trumpet-its-heightened-readiness-1530890798).
And despite Trump’s outward rhetoric, the U.S. contribution hasn’t gone down, suggesting that nervousness around the summit may be overplayed, said Michaels.
“The U.S. continues to be, by far, the biggest participant in NATO,” he said, adding that the Pentagon has, in fact, “significantly increased defense spending in Europe.”
Additionally, the communique that emerges from NATO is more detailed than the broad statement that came out of the G7, which increases the likelihood that Trump will sign off on it, said Michaels.
“A NATO communique is a much more technical document,” he said. “It’s not, sort of, a policy statement or, as one person described it, a press release. It’s very nuts and bolts.”
Another point of concern for NATO allies is Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Putin immediately after the summit in Brussels, drawing parallels with Trump’s post-G7 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
NATO, which was founded soon after World War II to counter the influence of the Soviet Union, officially suspended all cooperation with Russia after Putin seized Crimea in 2014.
But, given a general wariness towards Russia among American voters and Congressional lawmakers, Trump is unlikely to concede too much to Putin, said Michaels.
“Continuing the U.S. role in countering Russia, I think, remains something that most Americans support…[ They ] feel it is important for the United States to have a robust presence in Europe militarily.”
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-nato-survive-trump)
All Hands celebrates Black History Month by highlighting achievements in inclusivity and paying homage to those who have fought for equal rights. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins Cheddar News to discuss voter suppression; Damali Peterman, CEO of Breakthrough ADR, elaborates on the biggest barriers for Black professionals; Andre Perry, senior fellow of Brookings Institution, dives into student loans and the racial wealth divide; and lastly, BET CEO Scott Mills discusses the company's initiatives for 2022.
All month long Cheddar News is celebrating Black History Month.
In our nation’s capital, Black history is being made right now.
cheddar's own Arielle Hixon puts the spotlight on three lawmakers making that happen, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif. 43rd District) joined Cheddar News to talk about the current political climate in America, including efforts to roll back voting rights in multiple states in light of Black History Month. "Why do we have to deal with those who still believe that somehow this country only belongs to the whites of the country and that somehow they have to do everything that they can to undermine our voting and do voters suppression to keep us from being influential and at the table by which to solve problems?" she asked. Waters chided "two Democrats" who she said were stymying attempts to rectify the issue and also spoke on President Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Wall Street saw another volatile day after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged for now, with plans to raise rates in March at its next meeting in order to ease inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed has not made decisions on the size of rate increases, adding that the Fed is not trying to get inflation below two-percent. Ken Johnson, CFA and Investment Strategy Analyst explains why Powell thinks that high inflation is a significant threat to the labor market.
Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network, joined Cheddar News to discuss how global supply chains could be disrupted even further by an armed conflict in Ukraine.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
A new report by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China warns that press freedom in the most populous country in the world is declining at an alarming speed. Cheddar News speaks with Steven Butler, Asia Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, about the hardships journalists face in China.
