Thread by @jaketapper

1/ Some NATO facts:

In 2006, the NATO spox announced "Allies through the comprehensive political guidance have committed to endeavour, to meet the 2% target of GDP devoted to defense spending. Let me be clear, this is not a hard commitment..."

nato.int/docu/speech/20…

2/ In 2014, NATO members committed to "aim to move towards the 2% guideline within a decade..." so by 2024

nato.int/cps/ic/natohq/…

3/ As of now, only 5 countries of the 29 NATO members -- US, UK, Greece, Estonia, & Latvia -- have met or are expected to meet that threshold, per NATO.

Poland, Lithuania, Romania, France, & Turkey are at 1.6% of GDP or higher.

nato.int/nato_static_fl…

4/ So that's the 2% of GDP issue. There is also the issue of the NATO budget -- including direct funding and indirect funding.

nato.int/cps/en/natohq/…

5/ INDIRECT funding has to do with individual operations -- voluntary contributions for specific efforts. Per NATO: "Today, the volume of the US defence expenditure effectively represents some 67 per cent of the defence spending of the Alliance as a whole in real terms..."

6/ NATO notes this does not mean the US "covers 67 per cent of the costs involved in the operational running of NATO as an organisation...but it does mean that there is an over-reliance by the Alliance as a whole" on US for essential capabilities such as intel or missile defense.

7/ In terms of the DIRECT funding, the US per an agreed-upon formula, shoulders 22% of the budget, with Germany handling 14%, the UK handling 10%, etc.

8/ POTUS today said the following: “Many countries are not paying what they should, and, frankly, many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money from many years back. They’re delinquent, as far as I’m concerned, because the United States has had to pay for them.”

9/ The president's statement about other countries owing the U.S. money from years back doesn't fit with these established facts.

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