Defense spending among NATO allies, or the lack thereof (a persistent bugbear of Trump, and of his predecessor Barack Obama) is also likely to feature prominently in this week’s summit.
Although NATO members have increased their defense spending dramatically over the last five years, according to NATO defense spend data, many members are still not hitting a target set in 2014 when members agreed to spend a minimum of 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
NATO estimates for 2019, released in June, show that only the U.S., U.K., Greece, Estonia, Romania, Poland and Latvia have met or surpassed that target. The highest defense spending based on GDP was made by the U.S., at 3.4% of its GDP, while the lowest was by Luxembourg, which spent only 0.55%.
It’s the first visit Trump has made to the country since his state visit in June when he and the first lady were welcomed with full pomp and pageantry — and widespread protests.
Protests and crowds in London are expected to be large in the capital. The last time the president was in London, tens of thousands of demonstrators closed many major roadways and a 20-foot “Trump baby” blimp flew over the crowds.
On Tuesday, ahead of the formal start of the NATO “Leaders Summit” on Tuesday evening, a demonstration under the banner of “No to Trump – No to NATO” will be held in the capital.
Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/trump-to-meet-the-queen-and-nato-allies-after-tariff-threat-to-france.html
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