NATO pledges to up defense spending after Trump pressure

The Hill: NATO's chief on Wednesday said U.S. allies will up their defense spending by about $12 billion this year after coming under pressure from President Trump to increase their military budgets, according to multiple reports.

Secretary Gen. Jens Stoltenberg said that Europe's NATO allies and Canada will jointly raise defense spending by 4.3 percent in 2017. He added that the countries have increased spending by nearly $46 billion over the last three years.

NATO has “really shifted gears. The [spending] trend is up and we intend to keep it up,” he told reporters at NATO headquarters.

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