Beijing, China - July 3, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Screen shots of social media posts from U.S. President Donald Trump

FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of U.S. national flag, White House

FILE: Brussels, Belgium - April 3, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of NATO flag, headquarters
4. Various of NATO banners; NATO Star sculpture

FILE: Brussels, Belgium - June 6, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of NATO flag, flags of NATO members
6. NATO Star sculpture
7. NATO banners

U.S. President Donald Trump said it is "ridiculous" for the United States to continue its "one-sided" relationship with NATO in a social media post on Thursday.

Trump noted that the relationship has not been reciprocal.

In an earlier post, the U.S. president said the United States spends far more on NATO than the bloc's any other members "without getting any benefit from so doing."

On the same day, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told Der Spiegel that NATO's internal decisions are made through free consultation and consensus among all member states and are not dictated by any individual member, underlining that NATO is not about blind obedience.

Trump has repeatedly pressured European allies to increase military spending and accused NATO members of failing to meet the target spending on defense.

NATO members collectively agreed in June 2025 to raise annual defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. However, the U.S. continues to advocate for a NATO built on "partnership rather than dependency," with Washington pushing for Europe to step up and assume primary responsibility for the alliance's conventional defense.