US President Donald Trump shocked allies at a fraught NATO summit on Wednesday by suddenly demanding that members double their defence spending commitments.
Trump's surprise demand came after he clashed with Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling Germany a"captive"of Russia because of its gas links and singling out Berlin for failing to pay its way.
The summit in Brussels is shaping up as the alliance's most difficult in years, against a backdrop of deepening transatlantic tensions in fields ranging from trade to energy and defence.
"During the president's remarks today at the NATO summit he suggested that countries not only meet their commitment of two percent of their GDP on defence spending, but that they increase it to four percent,"White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
"The president raised this same issue when he was at NATO last year. President Trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations."
"NATO is not a stock exchange where you can buy security. NATO is an alliance of sovereign countries united by strategic targets and common values,"he told reporters.
All 29 NATO leaders including Trump backed a joint statement committing themselves to greater"burden sharing"and to the the alliance's founding commitment that an attack on one member is an attack on them all -- with no mention of the four percent.
Trump arrived on the back of a barrage of criticism of Europe on issues ranging from trade to energy and above all his claims that the continent freeloads on the back of America for its defence. He then set the tone for the day with a blistering attack on key ally Germany at a breakfast meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
"Germany is a captive of Russia because it is getting so much of its energy from Russia,"Trump said, taking aim at the proposed Nord Stream II gas pipeline, which he has previously criticised.