US President Donald Trump has arrived in Sicily ahead of the Group of Seven summit following his controversial statements at a NATO summit in Brussels.
At the summit, called to mark the opening of NATO’s new headquarters, Mr Trump berated some of the assembled leaders of the other 27 alliance member states for not spending enough on defence.
He also highlighted immigration as one of the threats facing NATO in the 21st Century.
The highly choreographed gathering at NATO’s new headquarters was supposed to be a display of Western unity, following the unsettling attacks on the alliance by Mr Trump during his campaign to be president.
The 28 leaders were given a tour of the gleaming new facility.
Following the amble through the airy sunlit halls of the building, the leaders gathered for the unveiling of monuments to both the Berlin Wall and 11 September.
But focusing on terrorism, and in particular the Manchester bombing, Mr Trump hectored the leaders present, saying 23 out of 28 NATO members owed what he called “massive amounts of money”.
NATO members have agreed to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2024, but Mr Trump said that was the bare minimum.
He linked the matter to the Manchester attacks, saying the terror threat had forced him to raise the issue.
Mr Trump also said immigration was one of NATO’s challenges, alongside terrorism and Russia.
There had been an expectation that President Trump would explicitly voice his support for Article 5, NATO’s mutual defence clause. But he declined, and left the dinner early for Sicily.
