nations not only meet the 2% goal immediately, he told them to double the target to 4% of gdp, an amount even the u.s. doesn't spend. he also singled out germany for additional criticism. . >> but germany, as far as i'm concerned is captive to russia because it's getting so much of its energy from russia. we have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that's being paid to the country that we're supposed to be protecting you against. >> the president expanded on that in a tweet, explicitly connecting or conflating the idea of defending europe with getting paid. quote, what good is nato, he writes, if germany is paying russia billions of dollars for gas and energy. why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met that commitment? the u.s. is paying for europe's protection and then loses on trade. must pay 2% of gdp immediately, not by 2025. this may be shocking to many. it's not, however, a surprise. the president campaigned on much of this. but now that he is acting on it, even some leading republicans are speaking up, albeit in fairly gentle way. yesterday democrats and independents passed a nonbinding resolution in support of nato which for seven decades hasn't