NATO countries are bolstering their militaries after U.S. President Donald Trump “won the argument” on defence spending, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.
Trump has long said allies don’t spend enough on defence and that the U.S. has carried greater than its justifiable share of NATO’s defence spending burden.
Carney told reporters in Turkey on the last day of the summit that Trump is trying to shift that burden — something former U.S. president Barack Obama had sought as well.
That’s beginning to occur, he said.
“That’s gaining momentum,” Carney said. “That’s a part of the purpose I made to President Trump after we spoke a couple of days ago … It’s not only he’s winning the argument, he’s won the argument.
“Countries recognize that they should take more responsibility, see the direct threats.”
The prime minister said global security threats are “changing rapidly” together with advances in military technology, from hypersonic missiles to autonomous warfare.
Carney spoke with Trump on Sunday and told reporters the president was in a very good mood, as he was when he attended a dinner for NATO leaders on Tuesday night.
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Although when Trump appeared on the conference and spoke with Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the president emphasized he remains to be upset with alliance members and threatened to finish trade with Spain.
“I’m not completely satisfied with NATO due to what they did with Greenland, and I’m not completely satisfied with NATO due to the incontrovertible fact that they didn’t wish to help us with the primary state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran,” Trump said.
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Trump’s war with Iran and past threats to annex Greenland have heaped strain on the alliance. Trump added that he would raise Greenland as a difficulty throughout the North Atlantic Council meeting.
Rutte sought to assuage Trump ahead of that meeting, telling him he was chargeable for an enormous surge in military budgets across the alliance.
“It’s really necessary in relation to in relation to NATO, what you’ve achieved, and this can be a huge win,” he said.
Across the summit, allies announced tens of billions of dollars in recent military spending.
Ahead of arriving in Turkey this week, Carney announced German manufacturer TKMS shall be the popular bidder for Canada’s next navy fleet of submarines.
The huge contract will rocket up Canada’s military spending, helping it make the case to NATO allies that it’s stepping up on defence.
The German-Norwegian bid narrowly beat South Korea’s Hanwha to grow to be the popular contractor, although Hanwha could still win the contract if negotiations with TKMS fall through.
Asked if there could be a consolation prize to smooth over relations, Carney said Canada is already hammering out other plans with Seoul.
He said he had a productive meeting on Tuesday with President Lee Jae Myung.
“Obviously, he was disenchanted, however the conversation immediately pivoted — at his initiative — to a series of issues around AI and technology risks and the way we will proceed to deepen our co-operation there,” Carney said.
“That’s not a consolation prize. That’s allies working together strategically on necessary issues.”
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