Obama praises Greece for NATO commitment

President Barack Obama is praising Greece for its financial commitment to NATO – specifically, for being one of five NATO allies that dedicated at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product to defense spending.

Obama says Greece has met that threshold despite difficult times, and if it can do so, so should all NATO allies.

Obama has pushed for higher defense spending by NATO members. That issue surfaced during the presidential campaign as Donald Trump suggested that the US would look at whether NATO members had paid their proper share in considering whether to come to their defense.

Trump challenged the strategic underpinnings of the NATO alliance. Obama is on his last foreign trip before Trump becomes president. And Obama is using this trip to try to underscore the US commitment to the alliance.

[AP]