News conference where the president expressed his support for nato and discussed syria russia, and china. This event is 30 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States jensis excellency stoltenberg. Secretarygeneral, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the momentorse and such a and our great alliance. I also want to take knowledge the great work being done by our secretary of state, Rex Tillerson to strengthen the Nato Alliance as well as the secretarys trip to moscow to to pull mode to promote the United States and our allies. He did a terrific job. 68 years ago, this month, not far from where we are, gathered today. Harry truman spoke at the signing of the north atlantic treaty. In the seven decades since he spoke those words, the Nato Alliance has been people work of international peace, and security. Nato allies defeated communism and liberated the captive nations of the cold war. They secured the longest. Of unbroken peace that europe has ever known. This Enduring Partnership is rooted out of so many different things. Our Common Security is always number one. Since 1949, the nato members and their states have doubled from 12 to 28. On monday, i signed the protocol to approve the 29th. The country of montenegro. Years,coming months and i will work closely with our nato allies to enhance this partnership and to adapt to the challenges of the future of which there will be many. This includings upgrading nato and all of its challenges including migration, and terrorism. We must also Work Together to resolve the disaster currently taking place in syria. Grateful for the support of the nato members in their condemnation of assads murderous tactics, using the most horrible weapons. The vicious slaughter of innocent civilians with chemical weapons, including the barbaric killing of small and helpless children and babies, must be forcefully rejected by any nation that values human life. It is time to end this brutal civil war, defeat terrorists, and allow refugees to return home. In facing our common challenges, we must also ensure that nato members meet their financial obligations and pay what they owe. Many have not been doing this. The secretarygeneral and i agree that other member nations must satisfy their responsibility to contribute to percent of gdp to defense. If other countries pay their fair share instead of relying on the United States to make up the difference, we will all be much more secure, and our partnership will be made that much stronger. The secretarygeneral and i had a productive discussion about what more nato can do in the fight against terrorism. I complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. It is no longer obsolete. It is my hope that nato will take on an increased role in supporting our iraqi partners in their battle against isis. I am also sending general mcmaster to afghanistan to find out how we can make progress alongside our afghan partners and nato allies. Every generation has strived to adopt a Nato Alliance to meet the challenges of their times, and on my visit to brussels this spring i look very much forward to we will Work Together to do the same. We must not be trapped by the tired thinking, as so many have, but apply new solutions to face new circumstances, and that is all throughout the world. We are not here to stand on ceremony but to develop real strategies to achieve safety, security, and peace. We are here to protect the freedom and prosperity of our citizens and to give them the future they so richly deserve. Secretarygeneral, i am honored to have you here today and to reaffirm our commitment to this alliance and to the enduring values that we proudly, and i mean very proudly, share. Thank you very much. Thank you for being our. Thank you for being here. Jens stoltenberg thank you, so much, mr. President. We had an excellent and very productive meeting, and it is really an honor to meet you for the first time in the white house. We agreed that nato is the bedrock of security both for europe and for the United States. Two world wars and a cold war have taught us all that peace in europe is not only important for europeans but is also important for the prosperity and security of north america. So a strong nato is good for europe, but a strong nato is also good for the United States. And therefore, i will come the very strong commitment of the United States to the security of europe. We see this commitment not only in words but also in deeds. Over the past months, thousands of u. S. Troops have been deploying to europe, a clear demonstration that america stands with allies to protect peace and the sense of our freedom. And yesterday, you announced the completion of montenegros membership in nato. We thank you for that. In a more dangerous and more unpredictable world, it is important to have friends and allies, and in nato, america has the best friends and the best allies in the world. Together we represent half of the worlds economic and military power. No other superpower has ever had such a strategic advantage. This makes the United States stronger and safer. We saw that after the 9 11 attacks on the United States. That was the first time nato invoked our article five, the collective defense clause. Allies sent planes to help the american skies, and towards natos biggest military operation ever in afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of europeans and canadian soldiers have served shoulder to shoulder with american troops, more than 1000 have paid the ultimate price. Earlier today, i laid a wreath at Arlington National cemetery in tribute to the fallen. It was a deeply moving experience. We owe it to our service men and women to preserve the hardearned gains we have made together. We are reminded of the sacrifice just this week when the u. S. Soldier was killed there fighting isil. Our mission in afghanistan is a major contribution to the fight against national terrorism. Nato plays a key role in many other ways also. All nato allies are part of the global position to counter isil, and nato provides support with training for the forces in the fight against terrorists and more intelligence sharing. And you are right, we have established a new division for intelligence which enhances our ability to fight terrorism and working together in the alliance to fight terrorism in an even more effective way. But we agreed today you and i that nato can and must do more in the global fight against terrorism. Training local forces is one of the best weapons we have. Nato has the experience, the expertise, and the staying power to make a real difference, and fighting terrorism will be an important topic when nato leaders meet in brussels in may. The other major topic would be fair burden sharing in our alliance. We had a total discussion on this issue today. And mr. President , i thank you for your attention to this issue. We are all seeing the effect of your strong focus on the importance of burden sharing in the alliance. We agree that allies need to redouble their efforts to meet the pledge we all made in 2014 to invest more in our alliance. It is about spending more on defense. It is about delivering capabilities we need, and is about contributing forces to Nato Missions and operations. This means cash capabilities and contributions. Fair burden sharing has been my priority since taking office. We have now earned a quarter. We have now turned a corner. In 2016, for the first time in many years, we saw an increase in defense spending across european allies and canada, 10 billion more for our defense. We are now working to keep up the momentum, including by developing national plans, planning how to make good on what we agreed in 2014. We know that we all need to consider our fair share, because we need to keep our nations safe in a more dangerous world. We discussed more topics at our meeting today including the horrendouse of use of chemical weapons in syria. Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must be held accountable. So mr. President , thank you once again. I look forward to working with you to keeping the alliance strong, and i look forward to welcome you to brussels in may, when the alliance needs to address challenges and the need to continue to conduct the alliance to a more challenging security environment and the fair burden sharing and stepping up the fight against national terrorism. Donald trump thank you. We will have a couple of questions. Jeff mason. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President. I would like to ask you about two topics if i may. First, has your view of Vladimir Putin changed since syria, and what are you prepared to do if he continues to support assad . And on a separate question, have you made a deal after your cat chat last night with the president of china about china helping to rein in north korea . And you would not label them a currency manipulator . For the secretarygeneral, you think nato should continue to bolster its presence along the alliances eastern border, and to you feel confident you have President Trump in the United States support for that . Donald trump i will be speaking with Rex Tillerson in a little while, calling in. I think he had a successful meeting in russia. We will see, we will see the end result, which will not be long, but the end result is important, not just talk. Based on everything i am hearing, things went well, maybe better than anticipated. It would be wonderful as we were discussing just a little while ago if nato and our country could get along with russia. Right now we are not getting along with russia at all. We may be at an alltime low in terms of relationship with russia. This has built for a long period of time, but we are going to see what happens. Putin is the leader of russia. Russia is a strong country. We are a very, very strong country. We will see how that all works out. Last night separately i spoke with a man that i have gotten to know. I dont know putin, but i have this spent time with this gentleman over the last two days, and he is the president of china. You were there, most of you were there, and it was quite an interesting period of time. President xi wants to do the right thing. We had a very good bonding. I think we had a very Good Chemistry together. I think he wants to help us with north korea. We talked trade. We talked a lot of things. I said, the way you were going to make a good trade deal is to help us with north korea, otherwise we will go it alone, and that will be all right too. But that means going with lots of other nations. I was impressed with president xi, and i think he means well, and i think he wants to help. We will see whether or not he does. Do you feel if you have a deal with him, do you feel like you have a deal with him in terms of currency manipulation designation, and have your views changed on putin . Donald trump we are going to see about that, and i will see about putin over a period of time. It would be a fantastic thing get along, it may not happen, it to get along, it may not happen, it could be the opposite. I will tell you what i would like to do. I would love to be able to get along with everybody. Right now the world is a mess, but by the time we finished, i think it will be a lot better place to live. I can tell you speaking for , myself, by the time i am finished, it is going to be a lot better place to live in. Right now it is nasty. Jens stoltenberg nato is in the process of implementing the biggest reinforcement to our collective defense since the end of the world war, and one element is to increase military presence in the east as part of the alliance. We are now deploying for battle four battle groups to the countries of portland, and the will be more u. S. Forces in that part of europe. This is the first time in many years we have an increase in the military presence of the United States in europe. We are increasing our presence, and we are also increasing the readiness and the preparedness of forces, so we can quickly reinforce if we need to. We consider the presence we will have when the four battle groups are in place and sufficient, given the current security situation in europe, but of course we will assess the situation, follow developments of any thing closely. The message from nato is that what we do is proportionate. It is defensive, and we do not want a new cold war. We do not want a new arms race, and we strongly believe there is no contradiction between a strong nato, credible deterrence and defense and political dialogue with russia. It is a precondition for the political dialogue with russia that we are strong and united, but based on that, we can talk to russia because russia is our neighbor, russia is a states, so russia is here to stay, so we must find ways to manage that. I have certain the United States supports this approach, partly because the United States is contributing with forces to enhance our presence in the Eastern Alliance and also the southeast in romania, and the president expects they will not fight with russia, but based on unity and strength in the alliance. The next question . Thank you very much. Secretarygeneral, how long do you think it will take you to persuade the other European Countries to burden share, and what are you going to do to persuade them . Mr. President , can i ask you i am here to help. I like that question. [laughter] im here to help. And mr. President , do you think it is conceivable with your instinct, is it possible Syrian Forces could have launched the attack in idlib last week without the russians knowing, and have you been disappointed, surprised by Vladimir Putins reaction since then . Thank you very much. Donald trump i think it is certainly possible. I think it is probably unlikely, and i know they are doing investigations into that right now. I would like to think that they did not know, but certainly they could have. They were there. So we will find out. General mattis and looking into it with the entire Pentagon Group that does that kind of work. So it was very disappointing to see. It is disappointing no matter who does it, but when you get into the gases of that form, it is vicious and violent, and everybody in this room saw it all too many times in the past few days, babies, children, fathers Holding Children in their arms that were dead, dead children. There cant be a worse sight, and it should not be allowed to. Thats a butcher i felt we had. I felt we had to do something about it. I have no doubt we did the right thing. And it was very successfully done as you well know. Thank you. Jens stoltenberg on defense spending and burden sharing, that has been my top priority. I have raised it in all of my meetings in all capitals i have visited, with prime ministers, finance ministers. And of course defense and foreign ministers. I expect all allies to make good back in when they decided in 2014. I sent a message from President Trump which has been helpful. We are seeing them start to move in the right direction, for the first time of the many years of the decline in defense spending, we now see an increase in europe and canada. They have started moving in the right direction. 3. 8 real increase is the significant step in the right direction. It is not enough. We still have a long way to go, but at least we have turned the corner, european allies have turned a corner. Instead of reducing defense spending, they will increase defense spending. That is important to remember this is something the europeans do because they know this is in their own security interest. This is in their interest to invest more because the world has become dangerous. All european allies have reduced all european allies reduced defense spending at the end of the cold war because tensions went down, but if you are decreasing defense spending when tensions go down, you have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions go up, and now they are going up. We have still a long way to go, but i am encouraged by the fact that we have started to move in the right direction. This year, roaming it has declared they will reach 2 . From 5 to 8 , which is at least going in the right direction, but still, we have some work to do. Trump and i did ask about all the money that has not been paid over the years, will that money be coming back. We will be talking about that later. What is your reaction to the United Nations vote condemning [inaudible] you talk about your reaction to china abstaining . Were you aware that was going to happen . Trump i think it is wonderful that they abstained. I was not surprised. Very, very few people thought that was going to happen. We are honored by the vote. That is the vote that should have taken place. [inaudible] the most important thing is to have a strong alliance, to stay united and be firm in our approach to russia, and that means we have to invest in our collective defense. Deploy more troops in the eastern part of the lines, and increase defense spending, and i welcome the very strong message from President Trump on the importance of increased defense spending. We have started to do this, so implementing defense providing credible deterrence, but at the same time, we have to find ways to engage with russia, to talk with russia because russia will not go away. Russia will be our biggest neighbor, and we have to find ways to live with them and to try to avoid a new cold war and new arms race. That is exactly why we have taken what i call a dual track to russia. As a former norwegian politician, i have had the experience of working with russia because norway was able to even during the cold war develop a pragmatic working relationship with russia, cooperating with them on energy, border issues, the environment,. Nd also on military affairs that was not despite our membership in nato but because of our membership in nato because nato provided the strength, the predictability for a small country to have a political dialogue with russia. I strongly believe that the only is to differ deter assad to be strong but the only way to avoid tensions is to continue to engage russia in a political dialogue and to make sure that what we do is defensive and proportionate to the response to a more assertive russia. Thank you. Im from norway. Russia is our neighboring country. What do you think europe has to russia if fear from . Is tension continues for you, mr. Secretarygeneral, the president said the attack in. Yria last week was warranted do you think the attack was wanted, and do you see nato playing any supporting role in future actions in syria . President trump hopefully, they will have a fear nothing, ultimately. Right now, there is a fear, and there are certainly problems, but ultimately, i hope that there will not be a fear and there will not be problems and the world can get along. That would be the ideal situation. Its crazy what is going on. You look at whatever you look at, its got problems so many problems. Ultimately, i believe that we are going to get rid of most of those problems and there will not be fear of anybody. Thats the way it should be. Problem inery big north korea, and as i said, i john is goinghat to try very hard and has already started. The vast amount of cold that goes from china to north korea, they have turned back the boats. We will see what happens. It may be effective, it may not be effective. We will be effective, i can promise you that. Thank you. Condemned the use of chemical weapons in syria and the use of chemical weapons is horrendous, and it is a clear violation of international law. Any use of chemical weapons is cannot gole and unanswered, so those responsible. Ust be held accountable the strike against the airbase in syria was a u. S. Operation based on u. S. Intelligence, but you have seen that within the alliance, this has been something which has been met with a lot of understanding because nato allies do not the chemical weapons are used, and therefore, we also strongly support the efforts of the Factfinding Commission to try to find out actually what happened and to make sure that we do not see any use of chemical weapons in the future. President trump thank you very much. Thank you. Here are some of the programs this Holiday Weekend on cspan. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, a nasa briefing on the discovery of seven flike planets orbiting a nearby star. Were currently using the Hubble Telescope to study the planets to determine if they helium dominated atmospheres. Following a discussion on the pros and cons of genetically modified foods. Because those of us who do this, we think that our plants all plants are gmls because this nothing you buy in your Grocery Stores that has not been genetically modified. White house easter egg roll events from the last four president s. Then a visit to the africanamerican History Museum in washington. I knew that the nation was thirsting or this museum, but i have to confess, i did not know that the reaction would read this positive and this strong. Judgesa panel of federal discussing the history of the bill of rights. What the bill of rights is is part of the constitution, a andly important Designation Division of power. Followed by the library of congress and the archivist of the United States. Our collection is 156 million objects including 2 million books and 100 54 million other things. At 6 30 p. M. Eastern, discusstial historians president ial leadership. It is interesting that the greatest american president , byaham lincoln, is bracketed arguably the least successful american president s. This Holiday Weekend on cspan. On wednesday, the United NationsSecurity Council held a meeting to discuss the situation in