On Thursday, US President Donald Trump again took aim at Germany's defense spending, saying NATO members that do not meet commitments would be "dealt with."
At a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, Trump praised seven other alliance members for paying the amount that "they're supposed to be paying."
"We have some that don't," Trump said, "and, well, they'll be dealt with."
Germany, he added, "has not contributed what it should be contributing, and it's a very big beneficiary."
"In particular, Germany must demonstrate leadership in the alliance by addressing its longstanding shortfall in defense contributions," Trump said.
Read more: Germany's lack of military readiness 'dramatic,' says Bundeswehr commissioner
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
The good, the bad and the ugly
US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Greatest'
"Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Very bad'
"The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Something in common'
"As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Illegals'
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Germany owes vast sums of money'
"Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.
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Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
'Turning their backs'
"The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"
Author: Lewis Sanders IV
Is pressure working?
The US president has repeatedly railed against Germany for falling below NATO's defense-spending commitments.
NATO agreed in 2014 that all 29 members would spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense by 2024.
In addition to the United States, only Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece and the United Kingdom meet the target.
Stoltenberg said Trump's "leadership on defense spending has really helped to make a difference."
"It is impacting allies because now all allies are increasing defense spending," he said. "No allies are cutting their budgets."
Read more: How does Germany contribute to NATO?
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Germany's NATO missions
Germany's role in NATO
West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn't until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered "out of area" missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany's Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies.
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Germany's NATO missions
Bosnia: Germany's first NATO mission
In 1995, Germany participated in its first "out of area" NATO mission as part of a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the deployment, German soldiers joined other NATO member forces to provide security in the wake of the Bosnian War. The peacekeeping mission included more than 60,000 troops from NATO's member states and partners.
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Germany's NATO missions
Keeping the peace in Kosovo
Since the beginning of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, some 8,500 German soldiers have been deployed in the young country. In 1999, NATO launched an air assault against Serbian forces accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and their civilian supporters. Approximately 550 Bundeswehr troops are still stationed in Kosovo.
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Germany's NATO missions
Patrolling the Aegean Sea
In 2016, Germany deployed its combat support ship "Bonn" to lead a NATO mission backed by the EU in the Aegean Sea. The mission included conducting "reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings" in Greek and Turkish territorial waters at the height of the migration crisis. Germany, Greece and Turkey had requested assistance from the trans-Atlantic alliance.
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Germany's NATO missions
Nearly two decades in Afghanistan
In 2003, Germany's parliament voted to send Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Germany became the third-largest contributor of troops and led the Regional Command North. More than 50 German troops were killed during the mission. Germany withdrew the last of its troops in June 2021 as part of the US-led exit from Afghanistan.
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Germany's NATO missions
German tanks in Lithuania
Forming part of NATO's "enhanced forward presence" in the Baltic states, 450 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania since 2017. The battalion-size battlegroups there are led by Germany, Canada, the UK and US to reinforce collective defense on the alliance's eastern flank. It forms the "biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defense in a generation," according to NATO.
Author: Lewis Sanders IV
Germany falling short
Last year, Germany only spent 1.2 percent of GDP on defense. The 2018 budget envisions 1.3 percent of GDP going to defense. Despite defense spending increases expected over the coming years, Berlin will still fall far short of meeting its commitments due to economic growth.
Faced with Trump's criticism on spending in the past, German politicians have argued that other expenditures, such as on development and humanitarian aid, should be included in calculations, rather than merely the size of the defense budget.
Chancellor Angela Merkel backs plans for Germany's defense budget to eventually reach 2 percent of GDP. However, her Christian Democrats' junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats, are against massive defense spending increases and demand funds be used more efficiently.
Germany's military faces multiple problems that have raised serious questions about its capabilities and readiness, which have led to calls for the defense budget to be increased.
cw/sms (dpa, Reuters)
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