[Reverend Wright]

Trump has a point about defence spending. Right now Latvia and Lithuania are at the bottom of the list in meeting their NATO committments, while claiming they are under an existential threat from Russia. Now, they say they will meet it in future, but talk is cheap. Canada has been promising for 50 years and we are near the bottom.

For Erdogan, that is Jacksonian Realism - ie. doesn't hurt the USA, sorry, not our problem. But the flip side of the Jacksonian code is - make one move to harming US interests or personnel in Turkey and you will be referred to in the past tense.

[Eurotwit]

That IS a damning graph.

As I said in a post above.

NATO allies need to start paying their fair share.

Perhaps Trump’s comments can put a fire under their feet.

As Norwegian I am surprised as a country bordering Russia and running large budget surpluses do not even meet the 2 percent mark.

It is not the quality of a great ally :/

[Lower Deck]

Canada has been promising for 50 years and we are near the bottom.

We're number 20! We're number 20!