28 May, 2017
Trump, who has often complained back home about other nations' North Atlantic Treaty Organisation support, lectured the other leaders in person this time, declaring, "Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years".
"Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying for their defense", Trump said, standing by a piece of the wreckage of the Twin Towers.
Instead, he returned to a grievance about Europe's drop in defense spending since the end of the Cold War and failed to publicly commit to NATO's founding Article V rule which stipulates that an attack on one ally is an attack against all.
The Prime Minister of Montenegro said he took no offense to being shoved aside by President Trump during a photo op at NATO's new Brussel's headquarters, calling the push a "harmless situation". Instead, the White House hoped to let the images of Trump in statesman-like settings tell the story of his first trip overseas, and perhaps ease questions about his preparedness for the delicate world of global diplomacy.
On the substance of this issue, Trump is on solid ground. In the speech, Trump gave no specific commitment to Article 5, the collective security provision that has been invoked only once - following the September 2001 attacks. The provision has even proved controversial, with Germany and other countries voicing scepticism about increasing NATO's defence budget. He accused the Europeans of being "unfair" to US taxpayers, opting to make a pitch to his base in the USA over building new friendships with allies.
President Trump has had, according to the White House, a successful maiden trip outside the U.S. But the bad news is he has to come home.
2 percent of their gross domestic product to military spending. Having dropped the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism" in Saudi Arabia, the US president signaled to Arab leaders that he was prepared to work with them - provided that they were willing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on USA weapons.
In Saudi Arabia, Trump called on the leaders of Muslim countries to shoulder more of the weight of the fight against terrorist groups like ISIS - matching his calls on the campaign for Muslim countries to shoulder more of the financial and military burden of the fight against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier in the day, Mr Trump, a critic of the European Union during his campaign, received a chilly reception from European counterparts in Brussels.
"Intelligence that is shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure", May said.
The epoch historical events of 1989 which saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe proved a political watershed not only in Europe's reunification but as importantly, NATO's new mission.
British officials are particularly angry that photos detailing evidence about the bomb used in the Manchester attack were published.
Mr. Trump promised to launch a review, and said, "Leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security". Soon after his election, he reportedly enquired from the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, which country was next in line to quit the European Union after Britain voted last June to leave.
"He offered the opportunity to open up the conversation, he yielded to all of the leaders in the room, wanting to hear their opinions on trade", Cohn told reporters.
Efforts by some of the Europeans to smooth over the divide seemed to fall flat, such as when European Council President Tusk, tried to joke that the US was lucky not to have two presidents like the EU. He said unity must be found around values like freedom and human rights and dignity.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) tried to persuade President Trump to stick to the pact. As the press watched, the two men exchanged a very firm handshake during their meeting, both men gripping tight, their faces showing the strain.
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