President Donald Trump is meeting with members of a NATO alliance that he has worked to bend to his will over the years. NATO leaders agreed Wednesday on a massive hike in defense spending after pressure from Trump, and expressed their “ironclad commitment” to come to each other’s aid if attacked.
The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”
Other news we’re following today:
NATO leader praises Trump’s involvement in Iran-Israel war in private text: En route to The Hague yesterday, Trump posted a screenshot of a message sent to him by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, which read, “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.”US and Iran are in early discussions about resuming nuclear talks, envoy says: Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran are engaged in both direct talks and through intermediaries about getting back to the table after Israeli and U.S. strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “The conversations are promising. We’re hopeful,” he said in an interview with Fox News.Early intelligence report says US strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back by months: The report issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency on Monday found that although Iran’s nuclear sites sustained significant damage, at least some of Iran’s highly enriched uranium was moved prior to the strikes and survived, and Iran’s centrifuges were largely left intact, according to two people familiar with the assessment who were not authorized to address the report publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
