but president trump has never embraced the alliance and gone back and forth over whether he thinks it s worth keeping. tell you about nato, it s obsolete and we re paying too much money. i said it was obsolete. it s no longer obsolete. now with the next nato summit set for next week, he is returning to one of his chief criticisms, that european leaders aren t paying enough for defense. according to the new york times, he s even sent sharply worded letters to allied leaders demanding they increase their spending and that he may consider, quote, adjusting america s military presence if they don t follow through. while the threat is new, the complaint is not. presidents george w. bush and barack obama both called on nato allies to pay more. then defense secretary robert gates had this to say back in 2011. if current trends in the decline of european defense capabilities are not haltpeded