President Donald Trump “is entitled to a great deal of credit” for NATO allies agreeing to more than double their defense spending target from 2% of gross domestic product to 5% by 2035, says James Gilmore, former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Trump, he told Newsmax’s “National Report,” “has been pushing these issues, not just in The Hague this week, but for months and months to get the Europeans to increase their spending so that they can stand up to the Russians.

“And I think that the policy of standing up to the Russians is gripping. It’s taking effect. The money is flowing. They’ve been talking about a 2% number. Then they were talking about a 3.5% number. Now they’re talking about a 5% number. And I think it’s necessary because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is the one dictator who actually pulled the trigger and who actually said, ‘I’m going to compromise Europe. I’m going to conquer another country of Ukraine. I’m going to rebuild the Russian Empire.’

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