The US president, on his Twitter account, praised his own efforts during the NATO summit in Brussels to hold all member states accountable to their defense spending commitments.
"NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia)," he wrote, adding, however, that the media allegedly failed to report it.
I had a great meeting with NATO. They have paid $33 Billion more and will pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars more in the future, only because of me. NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia). The media only says I was rude to leaders, never mentions the money!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 17, 2018
He went on hailing the NATO summit, though stressing that the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was "even better."
While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, it is not being reported that way — the Fake News is going Crazy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 17, 2018
The statement comes a day after Trump held his first bilateral meeting with Putin in Helsinki, which he characterized as "very successful, productive talks."
READ MORE: Germany on Putin-Trump Meeting: We Can't Let Russia, US Stop Talking
During the NATO summit, which took place earlier in the month, the US president repeatedly questioned NATO's usefulness and posted tweets saying that Washington was spending far more on NATO than any other member state, even though the EU had a trade surplus with the country.
The president's criticism of his NATO allies sparked resentment from US lawmakers, who argued that Trump should display more commitment to European allies in light of growing threats from Russia, China and other countries.
