美国总统川普在准备离开华盛顿前往比利时参加北约峰会之际，继续批评北约成员国。
川普7月10日星期二清晨发推特表示：“美国花费远远超过任何其他国家来保护他们。对美国纳税人不公平。此外，我们同欧盟贸易失去1510亿美元。向我们征收巨额关税(和壁垒)。”
川普自开始竞选总统以来一直严厉批评北约。自2017年就任总统以来，川普确认美国致力于保卫北约盟友，但继续批评北约的经费，争辩说美国承担过多的经费负担。
川普上星期在蒙大拿州的一次集会上，坚称他会“告诉北约：你们得开始付账单了”。总统还表示，美国民众是“一直在全部买单的笨人”。
北约表示，北约2017年经费的70%来自美国。北约29个成员国对该组织提供的资金数量，由他们的经济规模决定。成员国在2006年时决定最迟在2024年将国内生产总值的2%用于北约防务。但北约预计一些成员国将达不到这个目标。
本周三和周四将举行的北约峰会是自上个月在加拿大举行有分歧的七国集团峰会之后的第一个主要峰会。在七国峰会结束时，川普收回对最后联合声明的认可，并指责加拿大总理特鲁多“非常不真诚，非常软弱” 。
川普在布鲁塞尔与北约领导人会面后，将前往英国与特雷莎·梅首相(Theresa May)和英国女王伊丽莎白二世(Queen Elizabeth II)会面。川普在欧洲之行的最后一站，7月16日与俄罗斯总统普京在芬兰的赫尔辛基会面。
U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing to criticize NATO member nations as he prepares to leave Washington for an alliance summit this week in Belgium.
On Twitter Tuesday morning, he said “The U.S. is spending many times more than any other country in order to protect them. Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer. On top of that we lose $151 Billion on Trade with the European Union. Charge us big Tariffs (& Barriers)!”
Trump has been a harsh critic of NATO since he began campaigning to be the U.S. president. Since taking office in 2017, Trump affirmed the U.S. commitment to the defense of NATO allies, but he has continued to criticize NATO’s funding, arguing that Washington is shouldering too much of the financial burden.
During a rally last week in Montana, Trump vowed that he would “tell NATO: ‘You’ve got to start paying your bills.’” The president also said that Americans were “the schmucks that are paying for the whole thing.”
NATO says the United States funded about 70 percent of its expenses in 2017.
NATO’s 29 members contribute funds to the organization according to the size of their economies. Member nations committed in 2006 to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024, but NATO estimates that not all members will meet the target.
The upcoming NATO summit on Wednesday and Thursday is the first major summit since the fractious Group of Seven meeting in Canada last month. At the conclusion of that meeting, Trump retracted his endorsement of the group’s final joint statement and blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak.”
After meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels, Trump travels to Britain where he will meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II. Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16 the final stop of his European trip.