President Donald Trump, with his comment about it being "easier" to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sending a message that NATO member states should be paying a larger share for defense, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said Tuesday.
"He's sending the message that he's been sending for years, which is that member nations, many are richer nations when it comes to looking across the world, and what's an advanced economy, and they should be paying a larger share of their GDP on defense," Shah told CNN's "New Day."
"I think it's a straightforward message that has been consistent over the course of several years, and I don't think it's anything new."
Trump made his comment while boarding Air Force One on his way to meet with NATO leaders, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and then Putin.
"The European countries are on the front lines of the common defense for NATO, and they need to pony up and pay their fair share," said Shah.
"This is about what's fair to American taxpayers and the American people that a common defense set up through NATO should be properly funded by member countries paying their fair share."
Shah also commented on a federal judge's overnight ruling that the government can't go around the Flores agreement, which concerns the amount of time children can be detained, in connection with the president's zero-tolerance policy that had split up several families at the southern border.
"The Department of Health and Human Services is working with the Department of Justice as well as the Department of Homeland Security to reunite as many children with parents as quickly as possible," said Shah.
"One thing we're running up against is we need to vet and ensure the people claiming to be parents are actually parents. We've had examples in the last administration there was an inspector general report in which children were given to people who came with them across the border illegally who are not their parents.
"These children were abused and taken advantage of. That isn't a situation we can repeat. The children's welfare is the most important concern here. We'll ensure we comply with appropriate court orders, but we'll ensure child safety."
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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