Trump raps Japan over spending on US troops

February 14, 2018

Washington- US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Japan and other countries for unfairly shouldering only a limited portion of the United States' costs for defending them.

At a meeting on trade with US lawmakers and cabinet members at the White House, Trump noted that the United States has backed the economic growth of many countries, including Japan, China and South Korea.

"We defend" Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, but "they pay us a fraction of what it costs," he said, adding, "We're talking to all of those countries about that because it's not fair that we defend them."

This is a "separate argument" from trade, but a "real problem," Trump said.

During his 2016 US presidential election campaign, Trump said that he would ask Japan to pay all of the costs for stationing US troops in the country.

Since assuming the presidency in January 2017, Trump has held back from raising the issue.

But Trump brought up the matter again and took a hard-line stance against Japan and others at Tuesday's meeting, ahead of November's midterm elections.

The Trump administration has called on North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to increase their defense spending. It also said member nations that fall short of NATO's spending target should cover their past unpaid costs in some way. Jiji Press