The President: Secretary General Stoltenberg, it's a
pleasure to welcome you to the White House --
especially at such an important moment in
our great Alliance.
I also want to acknowledge the great work being done
by our Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to
strengthen the NATO Alliance, as well as the
Secretary's trip to Moscow to promote the security
interest of the United States and its allies.
He did a terrific job.
Just watched parts of it -- an absolutely terrific job.
Sixty-eight years ago this month, not far from where
we are gathered today, President Harry Truman
spoke at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty.
In the nearly seven decades since Harry Truman
spoke those words, the NATO Alliance has been the
bulwark of international peace and security.
NATO allies defeated communism and liberated
the captive nations of the Cold War.
They secured the longest period of unbroken peace
that Europe has ever known.
This enduring partnership rooted out of so many
different things, but our common security is always
number one, and our common devotion to human
dignity and freedom.
Since 1949, the NATO member states have more
than doubled, increasing from 12 to 28.
On Monday, I signed the protocol to approve the
29th -- the country of Montenegro.
In the coming months and years, I'll work closely
with all of our NATO allies to enhance this
partnership and to adapt to the challenges of the
future -- of which there will be many.
This includes upgrading NATO to focus on today's
most pressing security and all of its challenges,
including migration and terrorism.
We must also work together to resolve the disaster
currently taking place in Syria.
We are grateful for the support of NATO members
and partners in their condemnation of Assad's
murderous attack, using the most horrible weapons.
The vicious slaughter of innocent civilians with
chemical weapons, including the barbaric
killing of small and helpless children and
babies, must be forcefully rejected by any nation
that values human life.
It is time to end this brutal civil war, defeat
terrorists, and allow refugees to return home.
In facing our common challenges, we must also
ensure that NATO members meet their financial
obligations and pay what they owe.
Many have not been doing that.
The Secretary General and I agree that other member
nations must satisfy their responsibility to
contribute 2 percent of GDP to defense.
If other countries make their fair share, instead
of relying on the United States to make up the
difference, we will all be much more secure and our
partnership will be made that much stronger.
The Secretary General and I had a productive
discussion about what more NATO can do in the
fight against terrorism.
I complained about that a long time ago and they
made a change, and now they do fight terrorism.
I said it was obsolete; it's no longer obsolete.
It's my hope that NATO will take on an increased
role in supporting our Iraqi partners in their
battle against ISIS.
I'm also sending General McMaster to Afghanistan to
find out how we can make progress alongside our
Afghan partners and NATO allies.
Every generation has strived to adapt the NATO
Alliance to meet the challenges of their times
-- and on my visit to Brussels this spring -- I
look very much forward to -- we will work together
to do the same.
We must not be trapped by the tired thinking that so
many have, but apply new solutions to face
new circumstances.
And that's all throughout the world.
We're not here to stand on ceremony but to develop
real strategies to achieve safety, security and peace.
We're here to protect the freedom and prosperity of
our citizens and to give them the future they
so richly deserve.
Secretary General, I'm honored to have you here
today, and to reaffirm our commitment to this
Alliance and to the enduring values that we
proudly -- and I mean, very proudly -- share.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for being here.
Secretary General Stoltenberg: Thank you so
much, sir, Mr. President.
We just had an excellent and very productive
meeting, and it's really an honor to meet you for
the first time here in the White House.
We agree that NATO is a bedrock of security, both
for Europe and for the United States.
Two world wars and a Cold War have taught us all
that peace in Europe is not only important for
Europeans but is also important for the
prosperity and the security of North America.
So a strong NATO is good for Europe, but a strong
NATO is also good for the United States.
And, therefore, I welcome the very strong commitment
of the United States to the security of Europe.
We see this commitment not only in words but also in deeds.
Over the past months, thousands of U.S.
troops have been deploying to Europe, a clear
demonstration that America stands with allies to
protect peace and defend our freedom.
And yesterday, you announced the completion
of the ratification of Montenegro's membership in
NATO, another expression of your strong commitment
to Europe and to the transatlantic bond.
And we thank you for that.
In a more dangerous and more unpredictable world,
it is important to have friends and allies.
And in NATO, America has the best friends and the
best allies in the world.
Together, we represent half of the world's
economic and military power.
No other superpower has ever had such a
strategic advantage.
This makes the United States stronger and safer.
We saw that after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
That was the first time NATO invoked our Article
5, the collective defense clause.
Allies sent AWACS surveillance planes to
help patrol American skies, and we launched
NATO's biggest military operation ever
in Afghanistan.
Hundreds of thousands of Europeans and Canadian
soldiers have served shoulder-to-shoulder
with American troops.
More than a thousand have paid the ultimate price.
Earlier today, I laid a wreath at Arlington
National Cemetery in tribute to the fallen.
It was a deeply moving experience.
We owe it to our servicemen and women to
preserve the hard-earned gains we have made
together in Afghanistan.
We were reminded of their sacrifice just this
week when a U.S.
soldier was killed there fighting ISIL.
Our mission in Afghanistan is a major contribution to
the fight against international terrorism.
NATO plays a key role in many other ways also.
All NATO allies are part of the global coalition to
counter ISIL, and NATO provides support to the
coalition with training for Iraqi forces in
their fight against terrorists and more
intelligence-sharing.
And you are right, we have established a new division
for intelligence, which enhances our ability to
fight terrorism, and working together in the
Alliance to fight terrorism in an even
more effective way.
But we agreed today, you and I, that NATO can, and
must, do more in the global fight
against terrorism.
In the fight against terrorism, training local
forces is one of the best weapons we have.
NATO has the experience, the expertise, and the
staying power to make a real difference, and
fighting terrorism will be an important topic when
NATO leaders meet in Brussels in May.
The other major topic will be fair burden-sharing
in our Alliance.
And we had a total discussion on
this issue today.
And, Mr. President, I thank you for your
attention to this issue.
We are already seeing the effect of your strong
focus on the importance of burden-sharing
in the Alliance.
We agree that allies need to redouble their efforts
to meet the pledge we all made in 2014 to invest
more in our Alliance.
It is about spending more on defense.
It is about delivering the capabilities we need.
And it is about contributing forces to
NATO missions and operations.
This means cash, capabilities, and contributions.
Fair burden-sharing has been my top priority
since taking office.
We have now turned a corner.
In 2016, for the first time in many years, we saw
an increase in defense spending across European
allies and Canada -- a real increase of 3.8
percent or $10 billion more for our defense.
We are now working to keep up the momentum, including
by developing national plans outlining how to
make good on what we agreed in 2014.
We know that we all need to contribute our fair
share because we need to keep our nations safe in a
more dangerous world.
We discussed many different topics during
our meeting today, including the horrendous
use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable,
cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must
be held accountable.
So, Mr. President, thank you once again.
I look forward to working with you to keeping the
Alliance strong, and I look forward to welcoming
you to Brussels in May when heads of state and
government in the Alliance meet there to address the
challenges and the need to continue to adapt the
Alliance to a more challenging security
environment, and to respond both to the need
for fair burden-sharing, and stepping up our
efforts to fight international terrorism.
So thank you, once again.
The President: Thank you very much.
Great.
Thank you.
So we'll have a couple of questions.
Jeff Mason.
The Press: Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'd like to ask you about two topics, if I may.
First, has your view of Vladimir Putin changed
after what's happened in Syria?
And what is the United States prepared to do if
he continues to support Assad?
And on a separate question, have you made a
deal after your chat last night with the President
of China, about China helping to reign in
North Korea?
And is that one reason you've decided not to
label Beijing a currency manipulator?
The President: Well, I'll be speaking to -- do you
want to go ahead.
Go ahead.
The Press: May I?
For the Secretary General, do you believe NATO should
continue to bolster its presence along the
Alliance's eastern border?
And do you have -- are you confident that you have
President Trump and the United States' support for that?
Thank you.
The President: I'll be speaking with
Rex Tillerson in a little while -- he's calling in.
I think he had a very successful meeting in Russia.
We'll see.
We'll see the end result, which will be in a long
period of time, perhaps.
But the end result is what's most important --
not just talk.
And I think that, based on everything I'm hearing,
things went pretty well, maybe better
than anticipated.
It would be wonderful, as we were discussing just a
little while ago, if NATO and our country could get
along with Russia.
Right now, we're not getting along with
Russia at all.
We may be at an all-time low in terms of a
relationship with Russia.
This has built for a long period of time.
But we're going to see what happens.
Putin is the leader of Russia.
Russia is a strong country.
We're a very, very strong country.
We're going to see how that all works out.
Last night, separately, I spoke with a man that
I've gotten to know.
I don't know Putin, but I do know this gentleman --
I've spent a lot of time with him over the last two
days, and he is the President of China.
You were there --most of you were there, and it was
quite an interesting period of time.
President Xi wants to do the right thing.
We had a very good bonding.
I think we had a very good chemistry together.
I think he wants to help us with North Korea.
We talked trade.
We talked a lot of things.
And I said, the way you're going to make a good trade
deal is to help us with North Korea; otherwise
we're just going to go it alone.
That will be all right, too.
But going it alone means going it with lots of
other nations.
But I was very impressed with President Xi, and I
think he means well and I think he wants to help.
We'll see whether or not he does.
The Press: Do you feel like you have a deal with him?
And if I could just --
The President: Excuse me?
The Press: Do you feel like you have a deal with
him in terms of the currency manipulation
designation?
And have your views changed on Putin?
The President: We're going to see, we're going to
see about that.
And I'll also see about Putin over a
period of time.
It would be a fantastic thing if we got along with
Putin and if we got along with Russia.
And that could happen, and it may not happen, it may
be just the opposite.
I can only tell you what I would like to do.
I would love to be able to get along with everybody.
Right now, the world is a mess.
But I think by the time we finish, I think it's going
to be a lot better place to live.
And I can tell you that, speaking for myself, by
the time I'm finished, it's going to be a lot
better place to live in -- because right
now it's nasty.
Secretary General Stoltenberg: NATO is in
the process of implementing the biggest
reinforcement of our collective defense since
the end of the Cold War.
And one element of that is to increase our military
presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.
And we are now deploying four battle groups to the
three Baltic countries and Poland, and there have
also been more U.S.
forces in that part of Europe.
And this is the first time in many, many years that
we see an increase in the military presence of the
United States in Europe.
So we are increasing our presence, and we're also
increasing the readiness and the preparedness of
our forces so we can quickly reinforce if needed.
We consider the presence we will have when the four
battle groups are in place as sufficient given the
current security situation in Europe.
But, of course, we will assess the situation and
follow the developments very closely.
The message from NATO is that what we do is
proportionate; it is defensive.
And we don't want a new Cold War.
We don't want a new arms race.
And actually we strongly believe that there is no
contradiction between a strong NATO, a credible
deterrence on defense, and political dialogue with Russia.
Actually, we believe that a precondition for the
political dialogue with Russia is that we are
strong and that we are united.
But based on that, we can talk to Russia because
Russia is our neighbor, Russia is here to stay, so
we have to find ways to manage our relationship
with Russia.
And I am absolutely certain that the United
States supports this approach -- partly because
the United States is contributing with forces
to our enhanced presence in the eastern part of the
Alliance and also in the southeast of the Alliance
in Romania, and the United States and the President
has clearly expressed that they want dialogue with
Russia, but based on unity and strength
in the Alliance.
Then the next question is from Jon Sopel.
The Press: Thank you very much.
Secretary General, how long do you think it will
take you to persuade the other European countries
to burden-share?
And what are you going to do to persuade them?
Mr. President, could I ask you --
The President: I like that question.
(Laughter.)
The Press: I'm here to help.
(Laughter.)
And, Mr. President, do you
think it's conceivable, what's your instinct --
was it possible that Syrian forces could have
launched that attack in Idlib last week without
the Russians knowing?
And have you been disappointed, surprised by
Vladimir Putin's reaction since then?
Thank you very much.
The President: I think it's certainly possible; I
think it's probably unlikely.
And I know they're doing investigations
into that right now.
I would like to think that they didn't know, but
certainly they could have.
They were there.
So we'll find out.
General Mattis is looking into it with the entire
Pentagon group that does that kind of work.
So it was very disappointing to see.
It's disappointing no matter who does it, but
when you get into the gases -- especially that
form -- it's vicious and violent.
And everybody in this room saw it all too many times
over the last three or four days -- young
children dying, babies dying, fathers holding
children in their arms that were dead.
Dead children -- there can't be a worse sight,
and it shouldn't be allowed.
That's a butcher.
So I felt we had to do something about it.
I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing,
and it was very, very successfully done,
as you well know.
Thank you.
Secretary General Stoltenberg: On defense
spending and burden-sharing, that has
been my top priority.
I have raised it in all my meetings, in all capitals
I visited, with Prime Ministers, Presidents,
ministers of finance and, of course also defense
and foreign ministers.
And I expect, of course, all allies to make good on
what they decided back in 2014.
And the very strong and clear message from
President Trump has been very helpful.
So now we see that things are starting to move in
the right direction.
For the first time after many, many years of
decline in defense spending, we now see an
increase in defense spending across
Europe and Canada.
So they have started to move in the right
direction -- 3.8 percent real increase in defense
spending across Europe and Canada is a significant
step in the right direction.
It's not enough.
We still have a long way to go, but at least they
have turned a corner -- the European allies have
turned a corner.
Instead of reducing defense spending, they
have started to increase defense spending.
Then I think it is important to remember that
this something the Europeans do because they
know that this is in their own security interest.
It is in their interest to invest more in Europe
defense because the world has become more dangerous.
Many European allies, of course, reduced -- or all
European allies reduced defense spending after the
end of the Cold War because then tensions went down.
But if you are decreasing defense spending when
tensions are going down, then you have to be able
to increase the defense spending when tensions
are going up.
And now they are going up.
So we have still a long way to go, but I'm
encouraged by the fact that we have started to
move in the right direction.
And last year there were five allies
spending 2 percent.
This year Romania has declared that they will
reach 2 percent.
Next year Latvia and Lithuania will also reach
2 percent, so we go from five to eight -- which is
at least going in the right direction.
But still we have some work to do.
The President: And I did ask about all the money
that hasn't been paid over the years, will that
money be coming back.
We'll be talking about that, right?
(Laughter.)
We want to talk about that, too.
Anita Kumar, where are you?
Hi.
McClatchy.
The Press: Mr. President, what's your reaction
to the U.N. (inaudible) overall?
Can you talk a little bit about your reaction to
China -- we're you aware that was going to happen?
Did President Xi talk to you about that?
And how does that affect your relationship?
The President: We did talk last night.
I think it's wonderful that they abstained.
As you know very few people expected that.
And, no, I was not surprised that
China did abstain.
Very, very few people thought that that was
going to happen.
So we're honored by the vote.
That's the vote that should have taken place.
The Press: Mr. Secretary General, you talked a
little bit about Moscow, about Russia.
How do you (inaudible) the impression in general?
They've been interfering in recent democratic
elections -- how do you counter Moscow's --
Secretary General Stoltenberg: The most
important thing is to have a strong Alliance, to stay
united, and be firm and predictable in our
approach to Russia.
And that means that we have to invest in our
collective defense.
That's exactly what we are doing.
Deploy more troops in the eastern part of the
Alliance, increase the readiness of our forces,
and increase defense spending.
And I welcome the very strong message from
President Trump on the importance of increased
defense spending.
We have started to do this, so we are
implementing the biggest reinforcement of our
collective defense since the end of the Cold War,
providing credible deterrence.
But at the same time, we have to find ways to
engage with Russia, to talk with Russia.
Because Russia will not go away; Russia will be our
biggest neighbor, and we have to find ways to live
with them and to try to avoid a new Cold War,
a new arms race.
And that's exactly why I am very much in favor of
what we call the dual-track
approach to Russia.
And as a former Norwegian politician, I have the
experience to work with the Russians, because
Norway is bordering Russia.
And Norway was able, even during the Cold War, to
develop, I would call it, a pragmatic working
relationship with Russia, cooperating with them on
energy, on border issues, on environment, on
fishery, and also in military affairs.
And that was not despite our membership in NATO,
but it was because of our membership in NATO.
Because NATO provided the strength, the
predictability, the platform for a small
country to have a political dialogue with Russia.
So I strongly believe that the only way to deter
Russia is to be strong.
But the only way to avoid a new Cold War, avoid a
new arms race and avoid increasing tensions is to
continue to engage Russia is a political dialogue,
and to make sure that what we do is defensive and
proportionate in response to a more assertive Russia.
The Press: Thank you.
Mr. President, I'm from Norway.
Russia is our neighboring country.
What do you think Europe has to fear from Russia if
this tension continues?
The President: Say it --
The Press: What do you
think that European countries have to fear
from Russia if this tension continues?
The President: I cannot hear.
I cannot understand --
Secretary General Stoltenberg: She asked --
The Press: I'll do it again.
What do you think European countries have to fear
from Russia if this tension continues
to escalate?
And for you, Mr. Secretary General, the President has
said the attack in Syria last week was warranted
and was also an attack on U.S. allies.
Do you think that this attack was warranted?
And do you see NATO playing any supporting
role in future actions in Syria?
The President: Well, I want to just start by
saying hopefully they're going to have to fear
nothing, ultimately.
Right now there is a fear, and there are problems --
there are certainly problems.
But ultimately, I hope that there won't be a fear
and there won't be problems, and the world
can get along.
That would be the ideal situation.
It's crazy what's going on -- whether it's the Middle
East or you look at -- no matter where the --
Ukraine -- you look at -- whatever you look at, it's
got problems, so many problems.
And ultimately, I believe that we are going to get
rid of most of those problems, and there won't
be fear of anybody.
That's the way it should be.
We have a very big problem in North Korea.
And, as I said, I really think that China is going
to try very hard, and has already started.
A lot of the coal boats have already been turned
back -- you saw that yesterday and today --
they've been turned back.
The vast amount of coal that comes out of North
Korea going to China, they've turned back the boats.
That's a big step, and they have many other
steps that I know about.
So we'll see what happens.
It may be effective, it may not be effective.
If it's not effective, we will be effective,
I can promise you that.
Thank you.
Secretary General Stoltenberg: NATO has
constantly condemned the use of chemical
weapons in Syria.
And the use of chemical weapons is horrendous and
it's a clear violation of international law.
And any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable
and cannot go unanswered, so those responsible must
be held accountable.
The strike against the airbase in Syria was a U.S.
operation based on U.S. intelligence.
But you have seen that within the Alliance, this
has been something which has been met with a lot of
understanding because NATO allies do not accept that
chemical weapons are used.
And therefore we also strongly support the
efforts of the fact-finding commission to
try to find out actually what happened and to make
sure that we don't see any use of chemical
weapons in the future.
The President: Thank you very much.
Thank you.