President Donald Trump criticized an NBC News reporter for asking a question suggesting he is fraying the NATO alliance and playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You have spent the week taking on NATO allies, criticizing Prime Minister May on her own soil, and I wonder if you are giving Russian President Vladimir Putin the upper hand heading into your talks given that you are challenging these alliances that he seeks to break up and destroy?,” an NBCNews reporter asked.
Trump angrily replied, “That’s such dishonest reporting because it happens to be NBC, which is possibly worse than CNN, possibly.”
The president then said, “Let me explain something,” and then shared that he pressed NATO strongly on meeting their past obligation of 2-percent GDP spending on defense and that he ultimately extracted such concessions.
Trump said his pressing of NATO allies to increase spending is to the detriment of Putin, who is probably wishing he is not the president.