Very troubled waters ahead of the next NATO summit. US President Trump sent letters to allies sensitizing them to increase the percentage of GDP to devote to military spending, as determined at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014, that is, to spend at least 2% of GDP on national defense. This is a fundamental step that Trump cannot go back on. Non-alignment could portend a repositioning of the American military presence in the world if the Allies do not do and spend more. At the next summit in Brussels, another frontal clash between the allies is likely after the shock of the Canadian G7. With a substantial difference, namely that immediately after Brussels there will be the summit on July 16 in Helsinki between Trump and Putin and the tense climate with the partners could favor Vladimir Putin, who aims at divisions on the Western front with the aim, between the other, to end the sanctions against Moscow. Trump's slogan leaves no doubt of interpretation. "The patience of the United States is running out", referring in particular to Angela Merkel, writing to her that Germany "undermines the security" of NATO and accusing her of being "a bad example" for other allies by not increasing her military spending.
The underlying theme in the letters sent by the White House to the various leaders of the Atlantic Alliance is what Trump has been pursuing since the election campaign. The burden of security, the American president has repeatedly denounced, in the end almost everything falls on the shoulders of the United States. It is increasingly difficult to justify to Americans, so she wrote to Merkel, why some countries do not share the burden of security in NATO, while American soldiers continue to sacrifice their lives abroad or go home seriously injured ”. The German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen did not delay her response and specified that Germany spends "what is necessary": "The increase in the budget of our Defense began in 2014" with President Obama "and has since grown with great transparency ". Same reaction from Norway, entrusted to the Associated Press by Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen: "Norway is proceeding on its decision taken at the NATO summit in 2014". While Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, at a press conference, underlined: “I will be at the NATO summit and I responded to Trump by appealing to a 'pledge'. Italy contributes, but the forms of contribution are not only in an economic measure but also with strategic interventions for NATO. These forms of contribution must be considered together ”. The reference, of course, is to the international missions for which Italy is the largest contributor to NATO after the United States.
