CNN’s Tapper: Trump Talked About NATO Spending in Terms of Dues Owed ‘as if NATO Were a Country Club’

EXCERPT:

TAPPER: "To the disappointment of European allies, Mr. Trump did not publicly or explicitly affirm that commitment which he has suggested in the past he is less than sold on. The President in the past in public and private has cast the need of NATO allies to spend more on defense in terms of dues owed, as if NATO were a country club. Today the President did correctly talk about members commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, but he also alluded to allies who quote owe massive amounts of money from past years, which seems to echo his previous misunderstandings that this is all about back dues, an issue that caused a great deal of confusion weeks ago when in private he insisted that Germany pay what it owed in previous years which really doesn’t make a lot of sense."