Summit Loaded For Bear News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

You saw angela merkel putting on her game face. donald trump has clearly come to the summit loaded for bear. he is i think not speaking off the cuff when criticizing germany this morning as being captive of russia when he is pushing by tweet and in public statements nato allies in a very uncomfortable way, it is by design. of course, i think it is very much what he wants to do for whatever reason to set up his summit with president vladimir putin of russia on monday. it seems a direct contradiction to the policy of unity and solidarity that president trump's own advisers put forward as goal of...

Just one year ago, president trump came and in his debut personally refused and took out a line in his speech reaffirming the united states' traditional commitment to collective defenses at the heart of the nato treaty. vladimir putin already had good reason to believe donald trump wasn't exactly committed to nato. i think his blustering performance today will underscore that at a minimum. and the question is, is this a repeat, you raised it, of the scene with the g7 summit in canada where you go from meeting with allies in a very contentious, hostile way, including personally demeaning commen...

You wonder whether it is meant to be taken seriously or it is meant to show his disdain for the alliance that the united states has played the leading role in ever since it founded nato more than seven decades ago. i don't think it is serious. i don't think anyone thinks this is going to be the next outcome of the nato summit. >> tough love maybe ahead of the putin summit. his shadow putin's, that is, looming large at the summit. if you're putin, you're back here watching the dynamics play out on the global stage, what are you thinking? >> first of all vladimir putin believes that nato is the ...

We have to invest more. >> language and messaging, the secretary general points that out. make no mistake, he is not so subtly referring to messaging from the united states. it's become a very contentious issue this week in brussels at the summit. >> flashbacks to the summit not too long ago in the g7. thank you. barbara starr reporting in belgium for us. so how much should countries be paying for defense? president trump changed his t a tune a couple times. latest tweet was 2%, recently double that. hammering member nations like germany immediate to pay 4% of gdp for defense. let's get to our...

Trump makes. the question i have is whether this is actually what he wants as a policy outcome or a more convenient political whipping boy issue for him now. >> it's interesting, today he now demands 4% gdp, all countries should pay 4% into defense standing. as it stands, only five of the countries are meeting the 2% goal. what do you make of the new demand? >> first of all i would say it is not a serious policy demand. that is not the way that the u.s. government works on policy. the president had his two top advisers for this summit and the upcoming putin summit give an on the record briefin...