President Donald Trump has been insistent that European countries pay their fair share, and nobody should be surprised that he's trying to push the idea that everyone must pull their own weight, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell said Tuesday.
"I can tell you personally the president is very concerned about countries that are not paying their fair share," Grenell told Fox News' "Outnumbered," after the president admitted withholding aid to Ukraine a week before speaking with its new president. "There is a movement in Europe through the socialists...what they tell us is that they would rather buy a kindergarten program than an attack helicopter."
Trump said he ordered a halt to military aid to Ukraine earlier this year, saying he was frustrated that Europe wasn't helping the country fight Russia-backed separatists. A week later, he was on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the call becoming part of a whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official.
Grenell said he thinks that when Germany refuses to spend more money, it's sending the message that Americans should do the same thing.
"We have a $23 trillion national debt," said Grenell. "Germans have a surplus and beautiful opera houses. Have you been to the Munich airport? It's fantastic."
The American people should be proud of the nation's generosity, said the ambassador, but still, should evaluate if it can keep picking up the bills.
"No one should be surprised the president of the United States is finally laying down the law to say, 'you don't get money if you are corrupt,'" said Grenell.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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