Page 783 - Commitments News Today

Agreement at wales. and while we may might sometimes question about think about the tactics and techniques that were used to get us here, we have to understand and and agree this president has moved the needle and it looks like hes gotten fresh commitments at brussels. >> i want to break that down into two separate parts. alisyn camerota put this so well. its important to get natos to commit to defense spending but the president seemed to exclusively focus on that. were there not other important...

As long as we are together we are able to deal with any potential threat and challenge. >> one last one before i go. can you give me a yes or no, have nato allies agreed to a 4% share of their gdp for military spending? have they agreed to up it from 2% to 4%? >> we have aagreed to make good on the commitments we have made meaning increasing defense spending substantially and theres a new sense of urgency and new money is coming in since the last time. more than $40 billion has come in from euro...

Jim acosta, i appreciate it. thanks very much. obviously the president goes to -- will be in london tomorrow. joining us now is author and retired army lieutenant colonel ralph peters. lieutenant colonel peters, first, the presidents claims about payments to nato. what do you think it is? a willful gross misunderstanding. >> i think in the beginning it was a misunderstanding that he jumped on, but now its a technique to throw red meat to his base. trump thrives on disruption. and the irony, ande...

>> he said it is basically a loose agenda. >> it is important to recall when he had a phone call with vladimir putin a couple of months ago he didnt bring up the topic of russian meddling in the u.s. election. it is hard to take the president at his word that he plans to raise the issue when he plans to sit down face-to-face with putin. it is remarkable that when the president reaffirmed u.s. commitment to n.a.t.o. that that is noteworthy. it reinforces the ways in which he has tried to weaponiz...

Having those same conversations with those same countries. somehow he keeps finding ways, in front of the camera to make russia to not seem threatening. thats all upside as he goes into the meeting with putin in helsinki later this week. >> you say trump is just being defensive, isnt some part of this propaganda trying to deflect attacks to our opponents? >> i think some of this is rhetorical defensiveness a lot of politics display. if you listen to what president trump did this week he made goo...

Gas and that to the eu is. that they dont spend enough money. the end of the day, they signed a strong tough on russia communication, rereaffirmed all our commitments. take it from the german ambassador on wolf blitzers show said the german relationship is good and trump-merkel conversations are good and looking at positive outcomes and stronger nato on the back end of this summit. theres been a lot of discussion about trumps rhetoric today. im looking at the results. dont take my word for it, n...

They are totally controlled by russia, would you will willing to be more specific about the commitments that you secured today? is there a updated time line? >> no, many of them, in fact germany will be in 2028 or 2030. i think it is a very effective way to deal, but i didnt deal quick like you said. i have great respect from germany. both of my parents are from the eu. they dont treat us great in trade. if they dont negotiate in good faith, it will be something having to do with all of the mill...

Now, more coordinated, and there is a better spirit for nato right now than they ever had. the commitments are made at a higher level, and the money is paid out far faster. the 2% was a range -- it wasnt something they were committed to, now it is a big difference. it was just a number out there, but now it is a real commitment. i think he will see great unity and spirit. this was a fantastic two days. this was a really fantastic -- it all came together at the end. yes it was a little tough for ...

>> yeah, its fascinating to see a world leader be tough everywhere except when theyre face-to-face with the actual person that they are being critical of. its an interesting strategy. jim acosta, i appreciate it. thanks very much. obviously the president goes to -- will be in london tomorrow. joining us now is author and retired army lieutenant colonel ralph peters. lieutenant colonel peters, first, the presidents claims about payments to nato. what do you think it is? a willful gross misunderst...

It, my guests are joining me now to analyze this. we have michael hayden. we have nick robertson, also kaitlan collining. the con dex for this news conference is that european leaders, nato leaders that have been part of these meetings have been saying that the president outright threatened them suggesting that the united states was willing to "do his own thing if these other nato countries did not spend more on defense." the president saying he won the commitments he was looking for. never nato...