Engall, my ranking member, to try to put additional sanctions on putins russia and on iran as a consequence of their support here for assad. Were now bringing that bill up again, and this time i think well get it through the senate, and this time i think well get a president ial signature on it, so i i think everything is moving in the direction of additional sanctions. Russias foreign minister lectured secretary tillerson warning the u. S. Not to conduct any more strikes in syria. Are you at all concerned about a military confrontation with russia over syria . Look, you can see how measured this response was, what effort was taken to make certain that the assets that the were take own out were the Syrian Air Force planes, 23 of them were destroyed. Those planes that were carrying out chemical attacks, and so i i think youre going to concede if you see another chemical attack or a proven sarin gas attack, yeah, then i think youll probably see the president respond. But i think it will be in a measured way, and hes made it very clear he does not intend to, you know, put infantry on the ground in syria with respect to any of this. Based on what youve heard from sean spicer and from secretary of dev fence mattis over the last few days, do you think the use of barrel bombs by assad against his own people is a new red line, or does that not quite reach the threshold of a chemical weapon . You know when i heard that i think what he was talking about was the latest suggestion that chlorine gas was being used in these chemical bombs or in these barrel bombs, so i think what he was talking about, and i dont know for certain, but i presume it was dropping by barrel bomb chlorine. That would be another gas attack. If thats the reference, then that needs to be followed up. Theres an allegation of that, but, you know, we have the hard evidence on the sarin. I dont know yet if in this particular instance we have hard evidence on the chlorine in a barrel bomb. Do you think that the u. S. Government should present the evidence that assad was behind this attack and any other evidence to the world given the fact that russia, assad and others are challenging the United States and even comparing this to the inaccurate wmd predictions before the iraq war . Jake, heres whats surprising in this case. We just at the United Nations supported a resolution that would have an investigation, the very investigation that putin himself had called for, right, and theres the Russian Ambassador and when our ambassador and the other members of the International Community put this forward in the security council, he exercises his veto. The very thing he claimed he was asking for, an International Investigation by the United Nations. They vetoed it. Putins agent vetoed it, so i think we see the spin coming out of the kremlin on this right now. Republican congressman ed royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee and here come the secretarygeneral of nato and President Trump. Lets listen in. Thank you. Secretarygeneral stoltenberg, its a pleasure to welcome you to the white house, especially at such an important moment in our great alliance. I also want to acknowledge the great work being done by our secretary of state Rex Tillerson to strengthen the relationship with the United States and its allies. He did a terrific job. Just watched parts of it. Did an absolutely terrific job. 68 years ago this month not far from where we are gathered today president harry truman spoke at the signing of the north atlantic treaty. In the nearly seven decades since harry truman spoke those words, the Nato Alliance has been the bulwark of International Peace and security. Nato allies defeated communism and liberated the captive nations of the cold war. They secured the longest period of unbroken peace that europe has ever known. This Enduring Partnership is rooted out of so many Different Things but our Common Security is always number one, and our common devotion to Human Dignity and freedom. Since 1949 the nato Member States have more than doubled increasing from festival to 28. On monday i signed the protocol to approve the 29th, the country of montenegro. In the coming months and years ill work closely with all of our nato allies to enhance this partnership and to adapt to the challenges of the future of which there will be many. This includes upgrading nato to focus on todays most pressing security and all of its challenges, including migration and terrorism. We must also Work Together to resolve the disaster currently taking place in syria. We are grateful for the support of nato members and partners in their condemnation of assads murderous attack using the most horrible weapons. The vicious slaughter of innocent civilians with chemical weapons, including the barbaric killing of small and helpless children and babies, must be forcefully rejected by any nation that values human life. It is time to end this brutal civil war, defeat terrorists and allow refugees to return home. In facing our common challenges, we must also ensure that nato members meet their financial obligations and pay what they owe. Many have not been doing that. The secretarygeneral and i agree that other member nations must satisfy their responsibility to contribute 2 of gdp to defense. If other countries pay their fair share instead of relying on the United States to make up the difference, we will all be much more secure, and our partnership will be made that much stronger. The secretarygeneral and i had a productive discussion about what more nato can do in the fight against terrorism. I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. Its no longer obvious lieutenant. Its my hope that nato will take on an increased role in supporting our iraqi partners in their battle against isis. Im also sending general mcmaster to afghanistan to find out how we can make progress alongside our afghan partners and nato allies. Every generation has strived to adopt the Nato Alliance to meet the challenges of their times, and on my visit to brussels this spring, which i look very much forward to, we will look together to do the same. We must not be trapped by the tired thinking that so many have but apply new solutions to face new circumstances, and thats all throughout the world. Were not here to stand on ceremony but to develop real strategies to achieve safety, security and peace. Were here to protect the freedom and prosperity of our citizens and to give them the future they so richly deserve. Secretarygeneral, im honored to have you here today and to reaffirm our commitment to this alliance and to the enduring values that we proudly, and i mean very proudly, share. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you so much, mr. President. We just had an excellent and very productive meeting, and its really an honor to meet you for the first time here in the white house. We agree that nato is a bedrock of security, both for europe and for the United States. Two world wars and cold war that taught us all that peace in europe is not only important for europeans but is also important for the prosperity and the security of north america, so a strong nato is good for europe, but a strong nato is also good for the United States. And, therefore, i welcome the very strong commitment of the United States to the security of europe. We see this commitment not only in words but also in deeds. Over the past months, thousands of u. S. Troops have been deploying to europe, a clear demonstration that america stands with allies to protect peace and defend our freedom. And yesterday you announced the completion of the ratification of montenegros membership in nato, another expression of your strong commitment to europe and to the transatlantic bond and we thank you for that. In a more dangerous an unpredictable world, it is important to have friends and allies, and in nato america has the best friends and the best allies in the world. Together rerepresent half of the worlds economic and military power. No other superpower has ever had such a strategic advantage. This makes the United States stronger and safer. We saw that after the 9 11 attacks on the United States. That was the first time nato invoked our article 5, the collective defense clause. Allies sent awacs surveillance planes to help patrol american skies. And we launched nato owes biggest military operation ever in afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of europeans and canadian soldiers have served shoulder to shoulder with american troops. More than 11,000 have paid the ultimate price. Earlier today i laid a wreath at Arlington National cemetery in tribute to the fallen. It was a deeply moving experience. We owe it to our service men and women to preserve the hardearned gains that weve made together in afghanistan. We were reminded of their sacrifice just this week when a u. S. Soldier was killed there fighting isil. Our mission in afghanistan is a major contribution to the fight against international terrorism. Nato plays a key role in many other ways also. All nato allies are part of the Global Coalition to counter isil. And nato provides direct support to the coalition with training for iraqi forces in their fight against terrorists and more intelligencesharing, and you are right. We have established a new division for intelligence which enhances our ability to fight terrorism and working together in the alliance to fight terrorism in an even more effective way. But we agree today, you and i, that nato can and must do more in a global fight against terrorism. In the fight against terrorism training local forces is one of the best weapons we have. Nato has the experience, the expertise and the staying power to make a real difference. And fighting terrorism will be an important topic when nato leaders meet in brussels in may. The other major topic will be fair burdensharing in our alliance. And we had had a thorough discussion on this issue today. Mr. President , i thank you for your attention to this issue. We are already seeing the effects of your strong focus on the importance of burdensharing in the alliance. We agree that allies need to redouble their efforts to meet the pledge we all made in 2014 to invest more in our alliance. It is about spending more on defense. It is about delivering the capabilities we need and it is about contributing forces to Nato Missions and operations. This means cash, capabilities and contributioned. Fair burdensharing has been my top priority since taking office. We have now turned a corner. In 2016 for the first time in many years we saw an increase in defense spending across european allies and canada. A real increase of 3. 8 or 10 billion more for our defense. We are now working to keep up the momentum, including by developing national plans, outlining how to make good on what we agreed in 2014. We know that we all need to contribute our fair share because we need to keep our nations safe in a more dangerous world. We discussed many different topics during our meeting today, including the horrendous use of chemical weapons in syria. Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered and those responsible must be held accountable. So, mr. President , thank you once again. I look forward to working with you to keeping the alliance strong, and i look forward to welcoming you to brussels in may when heads of state and government and alliances meet there to discuss the challenges and the need to continue to adapt the alliance to a more challenging security environment and to respond both to the need for sharing and stepping up our efforts to fight international terrorism. Thank you once again. Thank you very much, great. Thank you. So well have a couple of questions. Jeff mason. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President. I would like to ask you about two topics, if i may. First, has your view of Vladimir Putin changed after whats happened in syria, and what what is the United States prepared to do if he continues to support assad, and on a separate question, have you made a deal after your chat last night with the president of china about china helping to rein in north korea, and is that one reason youve decided not to label beijing a currency manipulator. Well, ill be speaking to yeah. You want to go ahead. May i. For the secretarygeneral, do you believe that nato should consider to bolster its presence along the alliances eastern border, and are you confident that you have President Trump and the United States support for that . Thank you. Ill be speaking with Rex Tillerson in a little while, calling in. I think he had a very successful meeting in russia. Well see. Well see the end result which will be in a long period of time perhaps, but the end result is whats most important, not just talk, and i think that based on everything im hearing, things went pretty well, maybe better than anticipated. It would be wonderful as we were discussing just a little while ago if nato and our country could get along with russia. Right now were not getting along with russia at all. We may be at an alltime low in terms of relationship with russia. This is buihas built for a longd of time, but well see what happens. Putin is the leader of russia. Russia is a strong country. Were a very, very strong country. Were going to see how that all works out. Last night separately i spoke with a man that ive gotten to know. I dont know putin, but i do know this gentleman. Ive spent a lot of time with him over the last two days, and hes the president of china. You were there, most of were you there, and it was quite an interesting period of time. President xi wants to do the right thing. We had a very good bonding. I think we had a very Good Chemistry together. I think he wants to help us with north korea. We talked trade. We talked a lot of things, and i said the way youre going to make a good trade deal is to help us with north korea. Otherwise were just going to go it alone, that will be all right, too, but going it alone means going with lots of other nations, but i was very impressed president xi, and i think he means well and i think he wants to help. Well see whether or not he does. Do you feel like you have a deal with him, and if i could do you feel like you have a deal with him in terms of the currency manipulation designation and have your views changed on putin . Were going to see. Were going to see about that, and ill also see about putin over a period of time. Be a fantastic thing if we got along with putin and if we got along with russia, and that could happen, and it may not happen or it may be just the opposite. I can only tell you what i would like to do. I would love to be able to get along with everybody. Right now the world is a mess, but i think by the time we finish, i think its going to be a lot better place to live, and i can tell you that speaking for myself, by the time im finished its going to be a lot better place to live in because right now its nasty. Nato is in the process of implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the cold war, and one element of that is to increase our military presence in the eastern part of the alliance, and we are now deploying four battle groups to the three baltic countries and poland, and theres also been more u. S. Forces in that part of europe, and this is the first time in many, many years that we see an increase in the military presence of the United States in europe. So we are increasing our presence, and were also increasing the readiness and the preparedness of our norses so that we can quickly reinforce, if needed. We consider the presence that well have in when the four battle groups are in place as sufficient given the current security situation in europe, but, of course, well assess the situation and follow the developments very closely. The message from nato is that what we do is proportionate. It is defensive and we dont want a new cold war. We dont want a new arms race, and we actually believe theres no contradiction between a strong nato, a credible deterrence on defense and political dialogue with russia. Actually we believe that a precondition for a political dialogue with russia is that we are strong and that we are united, but based on that we can talk to russia because russia is youre neighbor. Russia is here to stay, so we have to find ways to manage our relationship with russia. And im absolutely certain that the United States supports this approach, partly because the United States is contributing with forces to our enhanced presence in the eastern part of the alliance and also in the southeast of the alliance in romania, and the United States and the president has clearly expressed that they want dialogue with russia, but based on unity and strength in the alliance. Then the next question is from john chappell. Thank you very much. Secretarygeneral, how long do you think it will take to you persuade the other European Countries to burdenshare, and what are you going to do to persuade them . Mr. President , could i ask you i like that question. Im here to help. And mr. President , do you think its conceivable, whats your instinct . Was it possible that Syrian Forces could have launched that attack in idlib last week without the russians knowing, and have you been disappointed, surprised by Vladimir Putins reaction since then . Thank you very much. I think its certainly possible. I thin