The speaker of the U.S House of Representatives has defied President Donald Trump by leading a pro-NATO delegation to Brussels and restating U.S commitment to the defense of Europe. Nancy Pelosi said there was strong cross-party support in the U.S Congress for the Atlantic alliance. She added that the American legislature had asserted itself over Trump. The U.S president has questioned his country’s commitment to NATO, arguing that Europe should fund more of its own defense and relies too much on the U.S for protection.
Trump has also sought to frustrate the speaker’s efforts to make foreign visits. He has canceled a planned visit to American troops in Afghanistan. Pelosi delivered her words in Brussels on Tuesday morning with a cross-party delegation from the U.S Congress to the NATO parliamentary assembly. Pelosi said: “I think our message is a very clear one when 10% of the Congress comes to Europe for the Munich Security Conference as well as continuing on here with even more additional members present”.
Pelosi added, “One of the parliamentarians just asked me as I was leaving, ‘Why did you only now just pass the resolution about NATO which had such strong bipartisan support?’ I said because we just had the majority and we can manage what goes on to the floor. She said, “Once the Democratic-Republican colleagues had this opportunity to vote on the NATO support act, I think that sends a very clear message”. The speaker attended the parliamentary assembly and met with European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, and other officials.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said, “Yesterday the meeting with president Juncker and Nancy Pelosi was a very cordial, very positive, and wide-ranging discussion. It covered entire issues that pertain to EU-US transatlantic relations but also many aspects of what we call the global agenda. So, we still believe that the EU and the U.S share a lot. Both sides have various shared and common interests to defend this global agenda. It was the discussion and it was a good one”.