Washington — US President Donald Trump affirmed his country’s commitment to Nato, but only after dragging top allies — Germany in particular — through a chaotic two days of insults, accusations and demands for them to have more military spending. In a news conference hastily arranged on Thursday on reports he had privately threatened to pull out of the post-Second World War alliance if countries do not rapidly raise their defence spending, Trump said he believed he could leave Nato without Congress’s authorisation. But he said doing so would be “unnecessary” because countries had agreed to spend more. Trump was vague on the details of any new financial commitments or timelines. US allies played down his assertions that they’ve raised spending targets above levels agreed upon in 2014. Trump insisted his divisive posture throughout the Nato meeting would not — as some critics have suggested — play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump is to meet next wee...
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