The US President's declaration came moments after members held an emergency meeting this morning to address his demands that they were not contributing enough financially to the alliance
DONALD Trump has today declared victory in his row with Nato allies and claims they have agreed to spend an additional £25 billion on defence.
His declaration came moments after members held an emergency meeting to address the US President's increasingly furious accusations they are not contributing enough financially.
The US President, who arrived half an hour late to this morning's gathering, then held an unscheduled press conference to declare members would be increasing payments.
He said: "Progress has been made, everyone has agreed to substantially to up it, up to levels never seen before. The commitment was at two percent. Ultimately, it will be going up quite a bit higher than that."
There were conflicting reports that Trump had threatened to quit the alliance if members did not agree to his demands.
The Times' defence editor Deborah Haynes today tweeted quotes from a source who said: "The US President continued that if the wealthiest economies are not paying 2 percent by January 'we are going to do our own thing'."
What we know so far:
However, two Nato sources who spoke to Reuters said he did NOT threaten to quit, while the President himself would only tell press he let leaders know he "was unhappy".
He added: "They raised an additional $33billion (£25bn), possibly going up to $40bn (£30bn). I told people I'd be very unhappy if they didn't up their commitments substantially.
"I let them know yesterday... I let them know that I was extremely unhappy with what was happening.
"Now Nato is a very strong ally, much stronger than individual countries. Numbers have gone up like a rocket ship. I think Nato is going to be very effective."
Trump had yesterday turned on Germany, labelling it a "captive of Russia" due to a huge natural gas import deal with Russia.
He also labelled members of the alliance "delinquent" for failing to spend 2 percent of their GDPs on defence.
Merkel today told reporters that "there was a clear commitment to NATO by all" at an emergency session of the military alliance.
She said Trump raised the topic of better burden-sharing and more spending by Germany, "as has been discussed for months," and that, "we made clear that we're on the way".
A source claimed that at one point, in a break with diplomatic protocol, Trump addressed Merkel by her first name and told her: "Angela, you need to do something about this."
Invited leaders from non-NATO countries Afghanistan and Georgia were asked to leave along with most NATO leaders' retinues of officials, as the heads of state and government of the Western alliance sought to deal with the man whose nation commands much of the budget and forces for Europe's defence.
One source said: "The language was much tougher today. His harshest words were directed at Germany, including by calling her Angela - 'You, Angela.'"
Meanwhile, diplomats have also reflected on yesterday's testy confrontations.
One told : "It's like the world has gone crazy this morning. Trump's performance was beyond belief."
Another yesterday said Trump's sudden and targeted attack on Germany and Angela Merkel was "very confusing".
They added: "The attacks before, and now this tremendous stuff today. It doesn't make any sense. We're still in the process of analysing it."
Trump had tweeted earlier today: "Presidents have been trying unsuccessfully for years to get Germany and other rich NATO Nations to pay more toward their protection from Russia.
"They pay only a fraction of their cost.
"The U.S. pays tens of Billions of Dollars too much to subsidize Europe, and loses Big on Trade!
"On top of it all, Germany just started paying Russia, the country they want protection from, Billions of Dollars for their Energy needs coming out of a new pipeline from Russia.
"Not acceptable! All NATO Nations must meet their 2% commitment, and that must ultimately go to 4%!"
A third European diplomat told CNN that Trump's attacks on Merkel in the past have resonated with his US voter base.
"Targeting Merkel, especially her immigration strategy in the past, is exactly what he wants to attack.
"She has allowed in a lot of immigrants. He's found that these attacks work, and can produce a great deal of damage.
"Second, the President is under attack himself for the way he treats Putin and the way he may treat Putin in Helsinki."
His attacks continued this morning after First Lady Melania attempted to smooth over tensions at a NATO summit party last night.
The pair attended a glitzy cocktail party with his wife, who was seen kissing Merkel on the cheek.
Trump and Merkel's pair's spectacular falling out yesterday occurred when he accused Germany of being “totally controlled by Russia” over a natural gas pipeline venture with Moscow.
During his rant, aide John Kelly could be seen squirming in his chair - a reaction the White House later bizarrely blamed on his displeasure with the food options.
And in a scathing Twitter tirade last night, he continued his attack saying: "What good is NATO if Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars for gas and energy?
"Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment?
"The U.S. is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025."
And as yesterday's stormy meetings descended into farce, Merkel hit back to suggest Trump didn’t know what he was talking about.
The Chancellor, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, said: “I've experienced myself a part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union and I'm very happy today that we are united in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany and can thus say that we can make our own decisions".
French President Emmanuel Macron - who is considered to be the one European leader Trump personally likes - backed Merkel by also denouncing Trump’s claim.
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, was formed after the end of the Second World War when a group of nations joined forces against the growing threat of the Soviet Union.
Established in 1949, it originally comprised 12 members but this has now expanded to 28 different states, including several bordering Russia.
Considered to be the largest and most powerful military alliance in history, it is known for the so-called Article 5 - in which members pledge to come to the aid of any member state under attack.
So it stands that if a member state is attacked the attacker must go to war with all members, including the US.
The organisation, which is credited with the escalation of the Cold War, carries out its own military missions using the troops of member states.
Few Nato summits have captured the attention quite like this week's due to US President Donald Trump's posturing over defence spending.
Alliance leaders are discussing the growing threat of Russia after Putin annexed the Crimea and backed a separatist war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
In recent years Putin has also stepped up his war of disinformation against the West, while his Novichok poisonings in Britain also plunged diplomatic relations to a new low.
However, the headlines are being dominated by Trump's interactions - and clashes - with fellow world leaders and in particular Angela Merkel.
Disagreement centres around members' defence spending, with the Nato guidelines stipulating members must pay 2 percent of their GDP towards defence.
Trump claims the US is paying far more than its Western allies towards the defence pact and wants members to increase their own defence spending.
According to figures from 2010 - 2017, the US spent 3.6 percent of its GDP towards the alliance across the 10 years. In fact, data shows only Britain, Greece and the US met their spending obligations.
Trump has already demanded all Nato members immediately increase their defence spending to 2 percent, and says he wants this raised to 4 percent.
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