Defense Burden Quotes

The promise to share the burden of our defense has gone unfulfilled for too many for too long, and it erodes the very foundation of NATO.

We must defend our NATO allies, but we should also ensure that everyone pays their fair share. The United States shouldn't be responsible for funding other countries' shares.

President Trump is hardly the first U.S. president to call on the European allies to do more - in one form or another, every president since Harry Truman has done so. What is different this time, however, is Trump's suggestion that America's commitment to the alliance is conditional.

We spend a lot of money on protecting other countries. And yet those other countries aren't paying nearly what it costs us for that protection. We're - they're getting one of the great bargains of all time...

I want to thank the American people - on both sides of the aisle - for years of financial, diplomatic, and military support, and for helping us carry the burden of defense.

The American people ask, and legitimately so, why should we carry the heavy burden to ensure international peace and stability. You also profit from it, so you should also take your share in the burden. That's Secretary Gates's message. I share that message.

I was proud of President Trump for sticking up for the American taxpayer and saying it's time for you to shoulder your burden. You are not fulfilling your promise that you made to NATO. And you need to step up to the plate.

If we are responsible for the defense of Europe, then what are the Europeans responsible for? Asia?